


A Flower for Me and You

by NightFoliage



Category: Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, Drama & Romance, Kaishin Big Bang 2020 (Meitantei Conan), Kaito/Aoko and Shinichi/Ran don't work out, M/M, Misunderstandings, Pining, Post-Canon, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, get-together, minor Makoto/Sonoko, no bashing to break up the relationships, post fall of the BO, surprise end pairing for Ran
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:07:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 35,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25704868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightFoliage/pseuds/NightFoliage
Summary: The Black Organization has been defeated and Kaito finds himself at a loss on what to do with his life. He ends up holding fast to his role as Kaito Kid and his new friendship with Kudo Shinichi. As they get closer, Kaito finds himself falling fast for the handsome detective, but keeps his feelings to himself. (He’s been burned before).But when Kaito spots the soulmark on Shinichi’s wrist he can’t help but make the stupid decision of tattooing the mark on himself.Kaito immediately realizes his mistake and hides the mark, until a heist has him baring it before Shinichi’s eyes.Kaito can only blame himself for what happens afterward.
Relationships: Kudou Shinichi | Edogawa Conan & Mouri Ran, Kudou Shinichi | Edogawa Conan/Kuroba Kaito | Kaitou Kid
Comments: 59
Kudos: 268
Collections: kaishinbigbang 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [angelpinut](https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelpinut/gifts).



> Author's Note: 
> 
> Thanks to my beta: [caliowl!](https://archiveofourown.org/users/caliowl/pseuds/caliowl)
> 
> Thank you to my amazing artist: angelpinut!!! They had such a good art piece I immediately thought of a story for it right away. Here's a link to the art!!! [***Contains spoilers to fic.](https://nightfoliage.tumblr.com/post/625566727994032128/im-so-glad-we-got-to-work-together-honesty-im)
> 
> Thank you to mac for putting the KaiShin Big Bang event together :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: ~8.4k

“It’s really over, isn’t it?”

“It’s over, Kid.” 

It’s the tiredness in the young voice that convinces Kaito that what he’s seeing is real. 

He’s hidden away on a rooftop, far away from the score of burning buildings where he can watch the agents carry away the cuffed characters in black. Even though he’s far away from the action, the heat of the fire is almost too much to bear and the wail of sirens fills his ears. But he knows the special agents have everything, from the fire to the men in black, under control. 

There’s nothing more for him to do but continue watching the procession of criminals get hauled away. 

“Kid? Are you okay?” 

Kaito manages to drag his eyes away from the fire to look at his phone. A picture of a young, bespectacled boy stares grumpily up at him. 

“I’m fine, tantei-kun,” Kaito chokes out. 

It’s not like he’s dissociating or anything after the downfall of the group that killed his father. (His stomach twists further at the thought.) He should be happy, this is what he’s worked for, for so long. 

“You don’t sound fine, Kid,” the voice growls at him. “Stay where you are, I’ll find you-”

“No.”

“No?”

“No,” Kaito says more firmly and he manages to get his feet under himself. He can’t be discovered (doesn’t want to be seen like this). “You just handle the men in black, tantei-kun. I’ll be fine.” 

There’s silence from the other line. 

“...Only if you promise to get some rest.”

“Okay,” Kaito says quickly, and surprisingly, he doesn’t think it’s a lie. 

“Call me, tomorrow,” the other demands. “There could still be some of the Crows out there and I need to make sure everybody involved is okay.”

“Okay,” Kaito repeats, then hangs up the phone. 

His phone buzzes with a few texts, but Kaito doesn’t reply back. He doesn’t even read them. Instead, he stands in silence with a hand on the wall to keep himself upright. Eventually, the messages stop and he stands in silence. 

When he’s well enough, he raises his binoculars to continue watching the arrests. He searches the faces and wonders if he recognizes any of them. Kaito clicks his tongue; the only one he’ll really recognize is Snake and the thought of the man being carried away in cuffs is enough to buoy his spirits, so Kaito hunkers down for a long night. 

He watches long enough that he’s getting sore and cold (even with the fire) and the arrests are slowing down. Cars enter and leave the scene though, so he needs to pay attention. 

Kaito receives another text and he ignores it. 

He’s scanning the line of cars holding the criminals when he sees what looks like someone staring right at him. That can’t be right. Surely no one can see him from this distance- but the person- tantei-kun makes a shoo-ing motion in his direction. How can he-? Tantei-kun deliberately taps at his glasses, which, right, Kaito remembers now that there’s a binocular function in them. When tantei-kun taps his phone, Kaito gets the message and checks it. 

There’s a picture attached to his last text. It’s a bit grainy, taken from a cellphone camera, but Kaito can see the white, blurry image of himself in his hiding place. Oops. One can clearly see his white suit and cape, not to mention his top hat. 

Right, he’s still dressed as Kaito Kid. Not the most conspicuous of outfits for a stakeout. 

His phone vibrates again with another text. 

_ Get going. I’ll keep you updated.  _

Kaito hesitates for only a moment before nodding. 

_ And remember to call me tomorrow.  _

With that message, Kaito quickly leaves and doesn’t look back. 

\-----

At home, after a meal and a shower, Kaito scrolls through his phone. The tiny tantei has kept his deal and has continuously texted him updates about everything from any issues with arrests, to when the fire is put out (thankfully, it didn’t spread).

Eventually, he scrolls back in time to the picture of himself on the rooftop. His face twists again at the photo. Kaito Kid has a reputation and a picture of him crouching down on a roof does not perpetuate the right image. It’s a pretty clear shot of him and if it were anyone else, Kaito would be trying to steal their phone away before the image could spread. 

Kaito scrolls down further and starts at the beginning. 

_ Oi, don’t hang up on me.  _

_ I can still see you there.  _

_ Find a better hiding place.  _

_ Kid?  _

There’s something about that message that makes Kaito pause. He can picture it in his mind, the boy's young face lined with worry. 

Kaito sighs. He knows that the detective isn’t actually a child, but he feels guilty anyway for leaving without seeing things through. In the end, Kaito stays up the whole night reading the alerts and in the early morning calls the tiny tantei to let him know that he’s okay. 

(Looks like in the end, Kaito does lie.) 

\-----

The next day he sleeps. 

The day after that he eats, yawns, and sleeps.

Then the day after that he gets a wake up call in the form of a dozen texts from Aoko. 

But she doesn’t call. He only receives texts that he can read in her voice telling him to get going so he doesn’t miss his university classes. 

She doesn’t invite him to breakfast. 

Is it worth it going to class? He’s just going to end up sleeping in all of them. No friends to wake him up or borrow notes, just himself in a room of people who don’t know him. It should reassure him. There’s no one to notice that Kuroba Kaito is always tired post a Kid heist, but instead the thought depresses him. 

His phone vibrates again.  _ Kaito! Get going!  _

If he doesn’t go, then he’ll end up staying at home. Alone. Getting message after message of Aoko scolding him. 

Kaito sighs and starts to get dressed. 

\-----

He’s in one of his classes (awake, but not for long) when he gets another text:

_ Operation over. Will be going to sleep.  _

It’s the meitantei. 

Kaito blinks and realizes that it’s already almost noon and the boy is still awake. He looks around before sending a brief message back. 

_ Get some sleep, meitantei. _

_ I will.  _

Kaito doesn’t get any more texts from him for the rest of the day. 

\-----

The rest of the week passes by the same way, the only things breaking up the monotony are the updates from the detective. 

By habit, Kaito checks the news and he spots a small article about a jewel coming back to a Japanese private collection. The picture showcases the owner standing next to the jewel, and it is indeed a mega jewel, looking as large as a person’s fist. 

Kaito feels a stirring of something he hasn’t felt all week. 

Excitement. 

Immediately his brain is creating plans and thinking about blueprints and-

Kaito pauses. 

Snake is gone. The men in black are (mostly) gone. If the people he was trying to stop are gone, is a heist necessary? Does it matter if he steals the jewel? 

He mulls over the question for a few days, until there’s almost no time left. It’s either decide to do the heist and use the next 24 hours to plan, or give up. 

Kaito decides to do the heist. 

His plan is nothing extravagant. He forgoes the usual heist notice and instead sneaks in, charms the owner of the jewel to let him take a look, and then returns it with a bit of magic. 

It’s not Pandora. 

But despite the ‘failure’ Kaito’s heart is lighter than before. There’s a happiness he’s feeling that he hasn’t felt in awhile. He does an after-action review of the heist by himself and hums happily as he goes over the good and the bad, and what can he improve during his next heist. 

The good mood carries him through the week and he starts looking up other mega jewels in the area. There’s a surprising number of them, many he’s had to ignore for a while, and Kaito starts planning out heists for all of them. 

When he realizes what he’s doing, Kaito stops to consider his actions. 

The last heist can be a one-off or it can be the restart of his criminal career. 

He has to think about this carefully and he can’t keep avoiding the question: with the Black Organization finished, is it really necessary to find Pandora? 

_ Yes,  _ Kaito immediately answers. After seeing the Black Organization for what it really is (a group trying to seek power, through youth and immortality), Kaito knows that there would be others to follow in their footsteps. He doesn’t trust the world quite yet to believe that someone else wouldn’t take advantage of the rumors of the jewel. 

But if Kaito is the first to discover it, he can destroy it and make sure that the power never falls in the wrong hands. That’s been one of his goals this whole time after taking the mantle and there is no reason to stop when he hasn’t accomplished it yet. 

The responsibility settles on his shoulders, but not heavily. No, it feels like a familiar, comforting weight. 

Yes, Kaito reassures himself again. Despite the trials and tribulations that come with being Kaito Kid, he would continue to be the Phantom Thief. 

\-----

Kaito does two heists in quick succession within the month. He gives a limited time for the heist notice and his only opposition is Nakamori-keibu and the Kid Task Force. They are woefully inadequate opponents, at least compared to what he’s used to from his detectives. 

(Kaito notices that during this time, Aoko fumes and doesn’t communicate with him at all. He tries not to be hurt, but also finds himself grateful that she doesn’t turn him in. Unfortunately, he knows that it’s not to help him and more because she genuinely believes that her dad will capture him.) 

The third heist (breaking into a rich man’s private collection in his vacation chateau), Kaito thinks it’s going to be a breeze. He’s deactivating the security system for the room holding the jewel when the hairs on the back of his neck all stand at attention. 

Instinctively, Kaito ducks. 

A soccer ball smashes into the space where his head used to be. 

“Tantei-kun!” Kaito can’t help but cry out. It’s been so long that he’s had one of those soccer balls directed towards him. He whips around to see the detective annoyed at him and not at all apologetic for  _ almost taking his head off.  _ “What was that for!?”

Conan gives him a look, his brows raised as if to say ‘are you kidding right now’? 

“Why are you surprised that someone is trying to stop you from stealing?” Conan asks. As if to punctuate his point, Conan brings up his wristwatch as if to shoot him with a tranquilizer dart. 

Kaito immediately prepares his cape, ready to dodge. 

“But I thought-“ we have something, is what he doesn’t say, because really, even though they teamed up to take the Black Organization down, Kaito never catches a break. “When did you arrive?” 

“I’ve been here since the very beginning. The man that owns your target called me,” Conan explains. 

Kaito curses. How did he not notice him? 

“So you’re here to stop me?” Kaito asks, trying to buy himself time to prepare a smoke bomb. He can already hear the Kid Task Force thundering their way in their direction. 

“That and to ask why you’re continuing being a thief,” Conan says. 

Kaito blinks. Oh! That’s not too bad, then. He doesn’t have much faith that things will work in his favor, but if the detective is willing to hear him out, then things are already better than the worst case scenario. 

Subtly, Kaito draws himself up. “Then I’ll meet you on the northeast roof once this is all over,” he says as officers crash into the room they’re in. “For now, farewell!” 

Kaito drops a few smoke bombs and a flash grenade for good measure, then escapes.

\-----

  
  
  


The rooftop is traditional for a house and thus doesn’t have an easy way up to it. Kaito manages by scampering out a window and then up. Luckily the shingles are sturdy and provide an easy handhold. 

When he’s secure he holds the jewel against the moonlight and- nothing. Not Pandora. 

Oh, well. He wasn’t really expecting anything and he pockets the jewel to return later. 

His footsteps are silent against the rooftop as he starts looking around for the detective, but he’s only greeted by silence and emptiness. Oops. Maybe he should have brought him along. 

Clink. 

Kaito looks towards the source of the noise and spots a familiar black belt getting thrown against the rooftop. It doesn’t latch onto anything and disappears back under the roofline. The next time it’s thrown up, Kaito is there to grab it and he helps haul the detective up. Then they slink into the shadows where they’re less likely to be spotted. 

“We only have a few minutes before they notice I’m missing,” Conan says quietly. “So talk. Why are you still a thief even though the men in black have been arrested? I thought that was the goal of taking up the mantle.” 

“It was,” Kid agrees. “But that wasn’t the only reason. It was also for- revenge,” Kaito admits aloud. “It felt like one of the only ways I could get back at the men in black,” the men who killed his dad, “was to destroy Pandora. I think I recognized even back then how dangerous Pandora could be if it was real. Even with them arrested, I don’t think anyone deserves that sort of power.” 

Conan’s eyes soften and he sighs. “That’s true. So you’re preemptively destroying it before anyone can use it?” 

“If I can find it,” Kaito says with a shrug. 

“Well, now you may have to,” Conan dryly says. “There may be hundreds, maybe thousands of potentials, but you’ve already narrowed down the list quite a bit. Any good investigator would be able to use your exploits as a starting point for finding the thing.” 

_ Oh shit.  _ Kaito hasn’t thought about it that way. And he realizes how true that is, especially since most of his heists are so...public. Maybe that’s why the men in black never killed him outright. Because he helped more than hindered their search at times. 

Something must show in Kid’s expression because Conan is quick to add, “as long as we obfuscate some of your heists it should be fine. And checking jewels that were readily available to the public was a smart idea. Who knows what would have happened if one of them was the jewel in question?” 

Kaito mentally sighs in relief, glad that he does have quite a few private heists under his belt. Then he realizes what the detective said. 

“Why, are you giving me permission to carry out my heists, tantei-kun?” Kid asks, amused. 

Conan’s nose wrinkles (and oh, this may only be a disguise but that is downright adorable) and he grudgingly agrees. “It’s...not a bad idea. We actually discovered a list from the Crows about what they’ve researched. It looks like you and the original Kaito Kid slowed them down.” 

The thought is sobering. His actions (and his dad’s) really were instrumental in helping the Crows not find their goal. 

“But if the Crows had a list of your heists, others could also have the same. It seems prudent to continue,” Conan admits. 

“In that case, if you could send me your lists then I can add them to my own,” Kid says. 

Conan shakes his head. “It might be smarter to combine our resources again-“ 

There’s the sound of yelling and the two of them look up to peek over the side of the roof. They see a squad of officers manning a searchlight pointed in their direction. 

Uh oh. Time to go. 

“Hold that thought, meitantei,” Kid says, preparing himself for flight. He’s overstayed his welcome. Then he pauses and flicks the jewel in Conan’s direction, “this too.” 

The detective is quick to lurch forward and grab the precious stone before it hits the roof. Kid takes a step back and stands tall, allowing the searchlight to find him easily, before disappearing in a cloud of smoke. When the air clears, he’s already flying away on his glider. 

\-----

The next day in class, Kaito’s phone pings him with an unexpected alert. He discreetly checks it and finds himself laughing at what he finds. It’s an article about the Kid heists. He thought he had avoided media attention this round, but there’s a short article about his exploits, one that has a photo of Conan looking horribly grumpy. He’s adorable. 

There’s a bounce in his step after he reads the article (Kaito Kid strikes again!) and the mood carries him through the day even as he starts getting messages from the adorable detective. 

_ When are you free?  _

Kaito considers the message. 

On the one hand, it would be smart to consolidate resources, not to mention if they actually partner up maybe he’ll stop getting a soccer ball to the head. Maybe if they partner up he also won’t have to worry about the threat of way-too-strong martial artists putting him in his place (Mori Ran and Kyogoku Makoto could be scary). Those are good enough reasons to accept if he can weasel in those terms.

On the other hand… 

They have to work together. 

Kaito knows that they can work together and coordinate. They already did against the Black Organization. But to continue working together? Especially in a private setting where there’s no mission or heist to concentrate on? Kaito is worried that the detective will get to know him and the man behind Kaito Kid. He can’t even imagine someone getting to know  _ him _ , Kaito. 

In some ways, Kaito likes being Kid. It’s exciting and exhilarating. He’s proud that he’s a masterful magician and thief like his parents, and people often respect him once they find out he’s Kid. 

In general, that is. 

The random stranger that happens to be Kid is the one to garner respect. 

That’s not the case when people find out  _ Kaito _ is Kid. 

Hakuba uses the knowledge like a weapon against Kaito. Koizumi ignores Kaito as if Kaito and Kid are somehow different people. And Aoko- 

Well. 

Yeah. 

Conan has Kaito’s (and Kid’s) respect and he thinks that Conan respects him in turn. Would that change if Conan can put a face to the phantom thief?

(He can’t risk it.) 

Kaito will figure out how to answer the message after his next heist. 

\-----

Of course, Conan confronts Kaito on his next heist. 

Kaito doesn’t see him coming. It’s another private heist (he’s taken mixing up his private and public heists to heart), one where the Kid Task Force isn’t even involved. As a result he’s totally blindsided by the detective that’s waiting for him on his exit route. 

“Shit!” 

Kaito yells, before slapping a hand over his mouth. 

He listens, making sure he didn’t trigger anything with his outburst. When nothing happens, he turns to the detective waiting for him in the shadows. Conan is scowling at him. 

“You didn’t answer my text, Kid.” The detective’s glasses reflect light ominously as he steps out of his hiding place. 

“What are you doing here?” Kid hisses. “No- it doesn’t matter. I have to leave before I’m caught.” 

“You won’t get caught,” Conan says, which doesn’t make any sense at all, because the kid is always trying to catch him, even if it’s playful at this point. “Because I planned this.” 

What. 

Kaito keeps his face blank even as he thinks about jumping through the closest window to get away. He wonders if this is a distraction and he should run away from this conversation now. Although the detective is good, he isn’t omniscient. Is that really his detective? As Kaito has proven in the past, it’s not impossible to impersonate a child, so really maybe he should get away-

Conan shakes his head. “This is why I wanted to work together, your first instinct is always to run away-” 

“To keep hidden? Sounds like someone else I know,” Kaito shoots back.

“-I didn’t want to catch you off guard,” Conan continues with a glare. “Will you at least consider my request seriously this time?”

Kaito thinks about it and nods. “Yeah.” This time at least. “I’ll answer my texts.”

He only catches the faint movement of a nod before he’s leaping away. 

The first text that comes to him is apparently a peace offering (it’s even labeled as such). It’s the laid out plan of how Conan managed to catch him, which involved calling in a favor from someone who owned a mega jewel and housed the jewel in a layout where Conan could predict Kaito’s actions. 

It’s a clever and meticulous plan. 

It’s also unlikely to happen again now that Kaito knows how specific the plan needed to be in order to work. 

Kaito sighs in relief that it isn’t likely to happen again. 

(The thought of being predictable rankles him.) 

Kaito thanks Conan for the explanation. 

Then, because he’s having a moment of weakness (the thought of partnership and an ally always makes his heart waver, even if it’s a former enemy and rival, maybe especially because it’s a former enemy/rival) he agrees to a partnership. 

It’ll make things easier in the long run. 

(It has nothing to do with the fact that Conan is the only one in Kaito’s life that can stand him right now.)

\-----

They become friends, of course they do, because Kaito can’t help himself.

He’s always looked forward to Conan’s presence during heists (even if it means the possibility of being captured) and now that they’re working together, there’s no stopping the fact that the detective has wormed his way into Kaito’s heart. 

Their ‘confrontations’ turn into chats and ways to catch up with one another. Kaito finds himself privy to prime information. Everything and anything, from how the work is going with the Japanese Secret Police, to what happened in Conan’s classes. Kaito never reveals too many personal details about himself, but that doesn’t mean Conan doesn’t figure out things like what magic Kaito is particularly proud of in the heist he just performed, to what Kaito looks like when he’s not feeling well. 

The first time that Conan turns his worried face in Kaito’s direction when he figures out Kaito is sick almost makes Kaito fall onto his knees and cry. And he definitely cries later when Conan texts him later to get some rest and ‘if he needed anything, all he had to do was ask’. When was the last time that someone tried to take care of him?

Kaito should have seen it coming. 

Especially when Kaito agrees to do favors for the detective, like dressing up as ‘Kudo Shinichi’ and having him hang out with Conan. 

Especially when Kaito starts to look forward to the heists, not only for the excitement, but for the company.

Especially when Kaito first lays eyes on the newly returned Kudo Shinichi and his first thought is:  _ oh no, he’s hot. _

It shouldn’t come to him as a surprise, yet it does. But he shakes his head and pretends otherwise. After all, it doesn’t matter if Kaito is working with an attractive detective. He encounters many beautiful people in his line of work. 

There’s no reason for one person to affect him so, right? 

He manages to keep himself in denial long enough to get used to working with Shinichi, but it only takes one moment for Kaito's perspective to shift and realize: Kaito has fallen for the detective. 

\-----

The revelation almost makes Kaito do what he thought impossible: quit being Kaito Kid. 

After all, he can’t take another heartbreak and avoiding the man sounds like a good way to get rid of his feelings. There’s no way anything will happen between them. And even if things do, even he knows that a detective and criminal dating is a terrible idea. The only thing that stops him is the fact that he realizes at the worst time possible, during a heist. 

He’s being chased, outrunning the Kid Task Squad with ease, when Shinichi engages him in a battle of wits. Their stand-off has them traveling through the building, trading both verbal and physical blows. The battle is more playful than serious, although both of them fight for the right to check if the jewel is Pandora first. 

Kaito has to be extra careful, because for once, he spots a familiar belt and bow tie on the detective. That professor of his must have adjusted the kid sized accessories to the now adult-sized detective.

He’s proven right moments later when he takes a particularly optimistic leap off a staircase to grab at a faraway ledge. He’s suspended in the air reaching for a handhold when he finds himself snagged around the middle. The sudden contact makes Kaito instinctively jerk away, but Shinichi- it has to be him- tugs him closer. Then he’s pressed up against the detective as they fall through the air. 

There’s a swooping sensation he gets in his stomach that should be because of the fall, but it continues even when they stop falling. As they start to swing backwards and then get sucked upwards by the detective’s handy suspenders, the butterflies in Kaito’s stomach don’t lessen. 

“That was close,” Shinichi says, a tad breathlessly. He’s smiling even though there’s a tinge of worry in his eyes. “I thought you were going to fall there.” 

Kaito’s about to say something about how ‘obviously he was going to make it’ (Kaito actually isn’t too sure on that one, but he would have figured something out) and how ‘he didn’t really need the detective’s help’ (it was nice though) and- 

But the hand around his waist curls around him a little tighter, knocking the breath out of Kaito’s lungs. Then he realizes how close they are. So close, that when Shinichi breathes out he can feel the soft huff of air against his skin. 

Too close. Kaito barely stops himself from pushing away. Why does he think the man’s too close? Kaito has been intimate with others as Kid all the time, this shouldn’t be any different. 

Shinichi hauls them both onto solid ground and Kaito finds his footing even though it feels like the ground has dropped underneath him. Shinichi gives him a grin and the feeling only intensifies- but why? 

There’s the sound of footsteps and the both of them resume the chase. Or maybe Kaito runs, while Shinichi chases him. He can feel the man’s presence at his back even though Kaito knows he isn’t a serious threat. They continue their play as detective and thief, and it’s only when Kaito is flying away does he realize why this heist has got him tied in knots. 

Or should he say,  _ who  _ has got him tied in knots. 

The revelation makes Kaito’s heart flutter, his hands want to shake, and he can feel his poker face slipping when he’s around the man. That doesn’t stop him from meeting with Shinichi, quite the opposite. He meets up with him every chance he can and messages him even more. The man’s smile makes him happy and he’s always looking forward to his reaction to his next show. 

Kaito has feelings for Kudo Shinichi. 

Oh. 

Oh- how did he not realize before? 

It’s just like with Aoko, but somehow different. 

Different because Kaito managed to let Aoko go (or was it the other way around?). But there’s this snarling, greedy, and selfish part of Kaito that is telling him to not let go of the detective. That he should keep every part of Shinichi as close as he can. It doesn’t matter who Shinichi shares himself with, as long as there’s a special part of him that belongs to Kaito. 

Where did that come from?

(Him, it came from within Kaito.) 

Kaito shakes his head. There have been too many changes of late. He doesn’t need any more. His newfound feelings can stay hidden for all that he cares. After all, he’s very good at keeping secrets. 

And so Kaito carefully locks his new secret away and tells himself that he won’t let it change the things that matter. Kaito Kid, the heists, and himself, Kuroba Kaito. 

(He can’t afford for things to change again.) 

\-----

Things don’t change.

Kaito doesn’t allow them to. 

\----

Sometimes, it’s still a shock to look over and see Shinichi instead of Conan. It’s been months now, but Kaito still looks down thinking he’ll still see a young boy of six like when they first met, but instead he’s greeted by the sight of long legs and his eyes drag up and up and- 

Kaito reminds himself to look away before he gets caught raking his eyes over Shinichi’s form. 

(It’s incidental, not at all on purpose.) 

But if it wasn't for the habit then Kaito might have missed the splash of color on Shinichi’s wrist. The man is a habitual wearer of long sleeves, so Kaito might never have noticed if the man hadn’t rolled his sleeves up for this heist. Normally, Kaito would have cursed whoever made hiding jewels in watery prisons trendy (he suspects Suzuki Jirokichi), but if it wasn’t for the water, then Kaito wouldn’t have spotted what is clearly Shinichi’s soulmark. 

Shinichi has his left arm outstretched, allowing the moonlight to pass through the jewel. Kaito has already checked it, no Pandora, but Shinichi always likes to do his own checks. And that’s where Kaito sees them: delicate lavender, blue, bell-shaped flowers with curling petals on the side of Shinichi’s left wrist. This time, Kaito stares without pulling his eyes away. 

He memorizes the shape and color of the flowers and their stems, and how they sit on the curve of the man’s wrist. The sight is burned into his mind. 

When it’s time to fly away, Kaito lingers if only to be able to look at Shinichi’s soulmark for as long as possible. 

\-----

Kaito doesn’t get the chance to see the mark again. 

To Kaito’s displeasure, it seems that water heists are no longer trending and are replaced with other ridiculous schemes, all of which don’t require the rolling up of sleeves. A heist involving an ink trap actually has the opposite effect of what Kaito wants and ends up covering up the mark. 

Maybe Kaito wouldn’t have been so obsessed if he got to see the soulmark again. Plus another exposure meant that he could mention it, maybe ask some questions. 

(Does Shinichi have a soulmate? Has he met them? If not, is he waiting for them? Do soulmates and soulmarks matter to the man? Would he date someone who doesn’t have a matching mark? Is he interested in suave, gentlemanly thieves?) 

There are so many questions that Kaito could ask. If only he had asked that first night. 

(He reminds himself that he doesn't want to know, that it doesn't matter. It’ll only hurt more if the answers aren’t ones he likes. But that doesn’t stop himself from wondering.) 

The thought of the mark is constantly on his mind. Just about anything can remind him of the mark again: the sight of flowers, a delicate shade of purple or blue, someone’s thin wrist. They all remind him of the mark. 

Kaito finds himself drawing the mark, over and over again. He draws it when he has a spare piece of paper, or on a napkin, or on his school notes. He doesn’t realize the habit until Aoko points out the flower on a notebook he’s letting her borrow. The habit gets reined in and Kaito only allows himself to draw it in the Kid Cave. There he can put in more effort and perfect his drawings. His memory is impeccable, so he doesn’t forget the shape, size, or color, but practice allows him to finally recreate it exactly. 

One night, Kaito’s in the Kid Cave practicing a potential act, when a failure has him stumbling into the table. He scatters papers and pens, objects falling everywhere. He sighs.

Kaito tries cleaning up before he trips (stuff is  _ everywhere _ ) and he yanks off a paper that’s stuck to his wrist. When he pulls it away there’s a smudged sketch of Shinichi’s soulmark. The ink is blurred and the lines are ruined. Luckily, it doesn’t look like it’s gotten on his shirt or his blueprints- but then Kaito spots the lines of blue ink on his wrist and the sight makes him pause. 

It’s Shinichi’s soulmark stained onto Kaito’s skin. 

\-----

Kaito shouldn’t. 

It’s not right. It’s not even in the grey area of okay. This is in fact very, very wrong, but Kaito can’t help himself. 

He’s been obsessing over Shinichi’s mark enough that he can draw AND color it from memory and- 

(He just wants a little piece of Shinichi to himself, that’s all. No one has to know. He’ll keep it secret along with all his other secrets and it doesn’t have to affect anyone but him.)

He’s convinced. 

Kaito does the tattoo himself and 24 hours later there are delicate flowers blooming on his left wrist. 

\-----

The tattoo doesn’t see the light of day. 

Yes, it’s healing, and yes, he can’t let Shinichi find out about the mark, but it’s also because the tattoo is a very easy way to link Kaito Kid and Kuroba Kaito. Having the two suddenly get a tattoo at the same time (and god forbid anyone finds out that they have the same tattoo), then it would be all too easy to figure out that they are one and the same. That might just be enough proof to finally arrest him. 

(He should have thought of that before getting the tattoo.) 

So Kaito keeps the mark covered at all times, both in costume and out. 

Which is why he never expects anyone, let alone Shinichi, to see the mark. 

So of course the mark gets revealed in his next heist. 

\-----

It’s an accident when one of the Kid Task Force members stumbles and nearly upends an entire table of paint onto a priceless painting. 

When Kaito sees the bucket go flying through the air, several thoughts cross his mind- one, that he can’t let a priceless painting get destroyed, two, that there is no way that the media wouldn’t villainize him if a painting gets destroyed during one of his heists, and three, ‘oh shit this might hurt’- 

Kaito launches himself in front of the painting and takes the hit. 

He’s immediately splattered with paint and oh- it smells terrible, he hopes it isn’t toxic-

“No!” A familiar voice yells out. 

Kaito has his eyes squeezed shut and almost jumps out of his skins when he feels a hand land on his shoulder. 

“We need to get this man cleaned up, stat!” Nakamori-keibu hollars. Kaito can hear many of the officers come to a stop, ending their chase to come to the inspector’s aid. 

Kaito almost breaks out of character, but manages to catch himself at the last second. He wipes as much paint off himself as he can. 

“Keibu?” Kaito-dressed-as-an-officer asks. 

“Don’t worry, we’ll get you cleaned up in no time,” Nakamori-keibu continues and gives him a squeeze on the shoulder. 

“But what about Kid?” Kaito asks. 

“I’ll have the others chase him right now, but you should be worried about yourself first. Tono will help you to the bathroom. Once you're clean again, we’ll talk about the commendation you’ll be getting for your great reflexes,” Nakamori-keibu says, proudly. “Good job protecting the painting.” 

It’s perfect, Kaito tells himself. His plan had been to sneak away dressed as a member of the Task Force, but Nakamori-keibu is giving him the chance to walk away. It’s great. He should be happy. 

Instead, Kaito has to swallow the emotions welling up inside him. (Ever since his falling out with Aoko, he hasn’t had much interaction with Ginzo-san outside of heists. He misses the man. The separation has gotten easier over time, but hearing the man’s caring voice in his direction even if it’s towards one of his officers and not Kaito-) 

“Thanks, keibu,” Kaito chokes out. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

Nakamori-keibu gives him a pat on the shoulder before pulling away. “That’s the spirit.” 

Kaito is led away to a bathroom. He cleans up (thankfully quite easily) and when he’s done, he makes his escape. He knocks out the officer with him and changes back to Kaito Kid. Then he escapes through a vent in the ceiling and makes his way to the roof. Every motion is automatic, unthinking. 

He’s off-kilter from his moment with Ginzo-san. 

It’s no wonder Kaito doesn’t realize until he’s doing his magic show that along with the paint, there must have been paint remover, which strips off the make-up he uses to cover up the tattoo of Shinichi’s soulmark. 

\-----

Kaito notices seconds into his magic show that the tattoo is showing, almost giving him a heart attack on his make-shift stage. Kaito proceeds to shove his left hand into his pocket and does the whole show one-handed. With a little improv, maybe people will think that it’s intentional. Thankfully, he accomplishes the show and the heist without having to take his left hand out and makes his way to the rooftop, jewel in (his right) hand. 

Shinichi is already there. The man is illuminated by the moon and stars, making his pale skin stand stark across his dark suit and the night sky. (He looks good, Kaito can’t help but think.) Kaito starts to instinctively look for the soulmark, but Shinichi’s hand is also shoved into his pocket tonight and it doesn’t look like he’s moving it anytime soon. He’s still, the only movement from him is when he bites his lip and when his thumb swipes across his phone. Shinichi is staring at the screen with such intense concentration that he doesn’t give any indication that he’s noticed Kaito’s arrival. 

Kaito almost stays quiet. He doesn’t often get the chance to look at the man too closely without the detective noticing, but he doesn’t want to get caught staring. That and they won’t have too much time alone tonight. Eventually the officers downstairs will figure out where he is. 

Kaito makes sure his steps echo across the roof and Shinichi looks up from his phone with a smile. 

“Ah! You’re finally here,” he says. 

“Meitantei, nice to see you,” Kaito says, maybe a little too truthfully. After the night he’s had, just seeing Shinichi’s face cheers him up and fills him with warmth. 

He busies himself with looking over the jewel to curb the fuzzy feelings he gets from the man. Not Pandora. Kaito tosses the jewel over to Shinichi who looks over the jewel himself. Kaito takes the opportunity to look over Shinichi again (handsome as usual). And Kaito spots a flash of blue, peeking out from Shinichi’s long sleeves. The hand in his pocket tightens. 

Kaito’s about to say something, ask how Shinichi’s been or maybe ask the detective to marry him, when the Shinichi speaks first. 

“Yeah, yeah, not Pandora, that’s what we were expecting,” Shinichi says, depositing the jewel in his pocket to return later. “What I want to talk about is that.”

That’s when he flicks his hand, pointing at Kaito’s left hand. “You’ve been hiding it practically the whole night,” Shinichi says. “What happened?” 

Kaito doesn’t freeze at the question, but it’s a near thing and his mind is racing. Should he hide it..? Instinctively, that’s what he wants to do, but then he realizes he won’t get a chance like this again. He reminds himself to be normal. Nonchalant. Playful even. He doesn’t manage to be playful but at least he isn’t nervous when he starts talking.

“Ah, this?” Kaito says with forced casualness. “It’s just a tattoo.” 

And while he talks, he raises his arm up and pulls down his sleeve revealing the tattoo in all of its glory. Kaito knows the mark stands brightly against his own skin and his white suit. And he’s standing close enough that there will be no mistaking what the image is. He breaks out into goosebumps as the wind gently blows across his skin and holds back a shiver that has nothing to do with the cold. 

Kaito drinks in Shinichi’s expression, which is at first vaguely curious, before his gaze sharpens. The switch is instantaneous and Kaito feels like he’s under a microscope, or maybe like one of the cases the detective will do anything to solve. Shinichi’s eyes flick back up to his and Kaito forces himself to shrug and hide the tattoo again. 

For the life of him he can’t tell if Shinichi’s expression is happy or angry or- he just can’t read him. The detective only looks considering. 

“How did you get that?” The detective asks (demands really).

“It’s- recent,” Kaito hedges. He doesn’t want to lie, but he has to keep his secrets. “Seems like it’s a soulmark.” 

There. That isn’t completely a lie, and he already said that it was a tattoo earlier. But there’s no way Kaito is admitting that he copied Shinichi’s mark. 

“It looks alright, doesn’t it?” Kaito asks. 

More importantly, is Shinichi going to say something about his own mark? The man has his left hand in his pocket but it doesn’t look like he’s going to pull it out. 

The detective hesitates, looks like he’s about to say something, then turns away. 

God, what does that reaction mean? It’s not a flat out rejection, but it’s not like Shinichi is jumping for joy either. This is so puzzling and Kaito doesn’t like it. He thought that showing off the mark would at least tell him  _ something _ . 

“Meitantei?” 

The detective doesn’t react. He’s in his thinking pose, eyes looking downward, with a hand rubbing his chin. (His right hand of course, so he doesn't have to take the hand attached to his soulmark out of his pocket.) Shinichi looks deep in thought and his eyes are far away. 

“Hm…” 

Kaito grabs the tip of his hat for lack of anything else to do (and to hide the hurt in his eyes if Shinichi looks up at him). “Meitantei?” He tries again. 

Still no reaction but a soft ‘hmm’. 

He’s getting a little worried. The last time Kaito has seen the detective this concerned had been over matters concerning the Black Organization. Is the fact that Kaito has the same mark that terrible?

“Meitantei?” Kaito calls out again. Louder this time, with more force. 

This time, Shinichi looks up to him, his head snapping up. Shinichi’s eyes are wide with surprise, as if he hasn’t been leaving Kaito hanging for the last couple of minutes. 

“Ah, sorry! I was just thinking a bit…” Shinichi says before trailing off. 

All evidence points to this being the truth, but what does Shinichi have to think so hard about? Either he likes the fact that they share the same mark or he doesn’t. (Maybe the fact that Shinichi is so conflicted is a good thing? That’s not a rejection at least, although it can turn into one.) 

Kaito searches Shinichi’s eyes. 

Shinichi looks away first. 

Kaito’s heart drops. That’s not a good sign. Shinichi always meets things straight-on. But now he’s looking away, avoiding Kaito’s eyes, his right hand is rubbing the back of his neck, his left hand is stiff in his pocket, and he’s turned away from Kaito. This is clearly a- a- 

(Kaito can’t even say it.) 

He swallows down his disappointment. 

“It's nothing,” Kaito says. 

“Okay then,” Shinichi is quick to reply. 

Kaito tries not to make a face. Shinichi is that unhappy that Kaito ‘became’ his soulmate? 

Fine. Kaito can deal with this. It’s not like he was expecting anything. After all, the tattoo is Kaito’s fault in the first place. It’s not Shinichi’s responsibility. 

Kid pulls himself together, weaving his phantom thief persona strongly around him. Thankfully, he can hear the sound of the Kid Task Force making their way towards the roof. He doesn’t even have to make an excuse for himself as he extends his hang-glider and leaves. 

\-----

Kaito only gets to mope for three days before he gets a text message from the detective. It’s a link to an article about a newly discovered jewel and the plans for its showing. That and a short message:

_ I’ll meet you on the roof.  _

…

What does that mean? 

Kaito stares at his phone. 

Then he stares at the tattoo.

And he looks back at the message. 

_ What does it mean?!? _

Kaito finds himself pacing in circles as he looks at his phone. This is- well, he has to plan a heist doesn’t he? 

He puts his phone down so he can start looking up data about the jewel and the building it’s being held in. (Every once in a while his eyes slide towards his phone or the tattoo on his wrist.) He wants to rush this heist, but he knows he can’t. This time he definitely can’t be sloppy. 

(But he can make sure that this is a private heist with no one to interrupt them.) 

The days of planning are slow and each passing moment ramps up Kaito’s anticipation.

\-----

The heist goes fine (too easy, honestly). 

The jewel is lovely (not Pandora though). 

And it’s a fine night to meet someone on a rooftop. Not hot or cold, and not windy. Fair weather, but just cloudy enough that they won’t be seen too easily. 

Shinichi’s already looking for him when Kaito arrives on the rooftop. His gaze is intense although his face is blank. Kaito keeps his own poker face and doesn’t allow himself to react. His hands are out of his pockets tonight, by his sides. Casually, he makes his way towards the detective. Nothing unusual here. 

(The only concession he makes is the wristband around his wrist. Normally he would wear makeup, but Kaito is pretty sure he knows what they’re going to talk about tonight.) 

“Where’s the jewel?” Shinichi asks. 

“I left it in it’s hiding place,” Kaito replies. Another concession, because he doesn’t want the heist to distract from this situation more than it already has. “It wasn’t what we were looking for,” Kaito finishes with a shrug. 

Shinichi nods. 

(Kaito wonders if Shinichi accepts Kid’s word because he trusts him or because he, too, doesn’t want the jewel to distract them from this moment. Kaito doesn’t know which one he prefers.) 

Then they- just- look at each other. 

It feels like a stalemate. Neither of them is willing to make a move until the other moves first. 

Kaito isn’t going to make the first move, that’s for sure. He’s patient enough that he’ll stay on the roof all day waiting for Shinichi to make a move. Shinichi started this. It’s up to the detective to finish things. 

…

Eventually, Shinichi does make the first move. He lifts a hand to his chin, looking thoughtful. 

Then he shakes that hand off his chin and takes a step forward. 

Kaito instinctively wants to take a step backward, but he doesn’t want to stop Shinichi from taking action. Besides, Shinichi isn't quite in his personal space. Closer than he would normally like on a Kid heist (close enough to see Kid’s face which Kaito doesn't allow anymore), but not too close. 

(But this is Shinichi. This is the man whose soulmark is tattooed on Kaito’s wrist. Surely Kaito can show him his face? There’s nothing to be nervous about.) 

While the detective is distracted by his thoughts, Kaito tips his hat downward to hide some of his features. 

After a moment, Shinichi slides a little closer. (Now the man is almost _ too _ close.) Kaito stays still. 

Then Shinichi casually reaches over and grabs Kaito’s left wrist. Kaito resists the urge to jerk back too hard. This is what he wanted right? The moment of indecision allows Shinichi to yank off the wristband exposing Kaito’s tattoo to the cool air. 

Kaito desperately holds back a blush (his cheeks feel hot though) as Shinichi inspects the tattoo. The intensity of his gaze is almost too much, but Kaito can’t look away as the detective looks the mark over. 

He’s proud of the tattoo. It’s not quite an exact match (exact matching marks are rare), but he made sure that the exact shade of blue and the gentle curve of the flowers is correct. The blue reminds Kaito of Shinichi’s eyes.

...Who is a little too close for Kaito to stay relaxed. When did the man get so close? 

Then Shinichi’s thumb is delicately brushing the tattoo and Kaito can’t help but jump at the touch- and  _ damn _ did the man touch others like this? Another brush, soft and gentle, and Kaito is screaming inside (POKER FACE!!!) trying to keep his face straight and not whimper at the touch. 

This man will be the death of him. 

When Shinichi finally looks up his eyes bore into Kaito’s and he doesn’t let go.

“Hn- what’s the verdict meitantei?” Kaito valiantly turns the start of a whimper into a question he desperately wants answered. 

Shinichi blinks and in an instant he’s pulled away and they’re now standing a respectable distance apart.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” the detective says. “I know how important soulmarks are to people.” 

There’s a little bit of guilt that curls in Kaito’s stomach at the thought of taking advantage of something that Shinichi finds sacred, yet Kaito’s wrist is still tingling at the memory of Shinichi’s touch. That one touch blew away all of Kaito’s regrets and everything would be worth it, if it meant being with Shinichi. 

“And to answer your question,” Shinichi continues, Kaito snaps back to the conversation, “that mark…” 

Shinichi visibly gathers himself and Kaito holds his breath. 

“How do you feel-“ 

This is it, this is the moment he’s been waiting for. Ohhh, Kaito doesn’t know what to say, how to answer. How does he explain the fact that he’s respected him as Conan and found himself falling for Shinichi? Can he put into words the way he admires the way Shinichi cares about people? God, does he want to admit how fucking attractive he finds the detective?

At this rate Kaito might as well admit that he’s been checking the man out for awhile now- no, he can’t say that. He  _ has  _ to be romantic. Maybe he should fall into his Kid-persona? 

(He...won’t say anything about his soulmark. Or- Kaito will tell him about it later. Much later, once everything else is out of the way.) 

Kaito waits for the final words that will seal his fate. He’ll know what to say when the moment comes. 

“-about Mori Ran?” 

…

“Eh?” 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: ~8.8k

The soulmark changes Shinichi’s life with all the force of a steel pipe to the back of his head. (And he knows what a pain that was last time.) 

Of course this has to happen to Shinichi. Never does his life go smoothly. Something or other, just has to turn everything upside down on him. Here he is thinking that he could have a nice life. But, no. A nice life is never an option for Kudo Shinichi. 

At first, things are going amazingly well for him. (That should have been his first clue.) The Black Organization is taken down. He makes a smooth transition from being Edogawa Conan to being Kudo Shinichi. He manages to maintain a friendship with the Detective Boys. He could hang out with his adult friends again. People are listening to him during cases and he’s working on getting an official position with the Division One police unit. And he could now freely date Ran. 

It even feels like the murder cases have been taking a break, although as a result, the number of Kaito Kid heists increased, which isn’t at all a bad thing. He’ll take a heist over a murder any day. 

Things have been looking his way, until:

“Shinichi, look,” Ran says breathlessly. 

Shinichi is looking and is about to compliment her outfit (he’s pretty sure she wanted him to notice the new top she’s wearing- the color does look very nice against her skin) when Ran shoves her hand practically up his nose. 

“Ran-“ 

The words die in Shinichi’s mouth as he gets a good look at what’s in front of him. 

Shinichi cradles Ran’s wrist in his hands and stares. 

They’re beautiful. 

On Ran’s wrist is a sprig of flowers with gentle blossoms blooming a brilliant blue mixed with lavender. Shinichi runs his fingers over the curve of their stem and the soft petals that curve outwards. 

Bluebells. 

The flowers symbolize humility and ever-lasting love. 

The detail is indescribable. Shinichi can pick out the folds and creases of the petals making them look oh so delicate on Ran’s wrist. The color is phenomenal. A burst of color against her skin, but not too much to be garish, only lovely. And the symbolism is perfect. It suits her so perfectly, although Shinichi thinks she deserves a goddam bouquet with how amazing she is. Hopefully though, these are also traits that are found with her soulmate. Surely any person with the symbol of ever-lasting love will be a good match. 

Shinichi’s heart clenches and he feels an indescribable ugly jealousy towards whoever has the matching mark.

Because it’s not him. 

And Shinichi tells Ran all of that. (Except for the jealousy part, but she figures that out anyway.)

They end up fighting.

Shinichi makes Ran cry (again). 

(Shinichi ends up crying as well, which only makes Ran cry harder.) 

The thing is, Shinichi doesn’t really believe in soulmarks. 

He doesn’t dislike them, but he doesn’t think it’s smart that people should take the marks as gospel when it comes to relationships. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with seeing how that person with a matching mark can fit into your life, but soulmark relationships aren’t perfect. They take work. Which means they’re just like any other relationship, except there’s a permanent mark on one’s body involved. To Shinichi it’s all very troublesome and he wonders why soulmarks exist in the first place. 

Soulmarks are just marks that appear on one’s body that could be similar to another’s. They could lead one to someone special. Yes, a lover, but also a friend, a mentor, a person in need of help- the possibilities are endless. 

But people adore a good romance between people with soulmarks, which has led to the inflated importance for lovers to have similar soulmarks. So many people have started to think that matching soulmarks equated to perfect relationships. _Soulmates_ is the term coined for those who have a soulmark relationship, but unfortunately the term has taken on the popular connotation of lovers with matching marks. 

(He’s seen too many cases involving soulmarks to know that the relationships always end in happiness.)

So Shinichi doesn’t believe in soulmarks, not really. 

But Ran believes in them. 

Ran who giggles with Sonoko when they say ‘soulmates’ and is superstitious and deserves someone perfect- 

Ran believes in soulmates and Shinichi isn’t  _ hers.  _

He yells that, because she deserves the best, and her best might no longer be Shinichi. 

She yells saying that he never believed in soulmates so why start now? 

By the end of the fight they agree to wait. 

‘Chances are that your mark is going to come in late. You’re often slow like that,’ Ran says to him. 

Shinichi knows the chances of that happening are low. Not impossible, but unlikely. That and he doesn’t want to give her false hope. How long could she wait for him? 

Forever, his mind supplies, but he doesn’t want her to have to wait any longer, especially if there’s someone better for her. 

( _ Humility and ever-lasting love _ the mark reminds him each time he sees it.) 

So they remain in a strange limbo of forced normalcy. Shinichi treats her perfectly and loves her with all his heart (he couldn’t love her any other way), while he secretly researches soulmarks. And Ran loves him with everything she has, even as she tries to discreetly glance at him (a look that Shinichi catches every time), hoping that one day he’ll say his mark has appeared. 

Everything comes to a head when Hondo Eisuke bursts into their lives with a bouquet of bluebells. 

\-----

They’re at Cafe Poirot catching a quick lunch before Shinichi has to head back to the station and Ran has to study. Ran looks particularly nice today; her hair is up with a few flyaways and she’s wearing casual clothing. She looks comfortable and soft and Shinichi loves it when she can be this relaxed around him. Shinichi himself is in a rumpled suit, having been working a case for over a day, and will get back to it once he’s had lunch. 

It’s perfect, being able to decompress with Ran and she even agrees to hold his hand during the whole meal as a physical reminder of her presence. (The hand-holding is a habit that he’s picked up from his time as Conan, which Ran adores, and Shinichi secretly does too.) She’s happy to oblige him. And because he is a gentleman, he reaches his dominant hand, his right one, across the table, to hold Ran’s left (her non-dominant hand) so that their fingers are intertwined. 

He’s a little clumsy eating and drinking with his left hand, but it makes Ran giggle and tease him, so he’s happy with the decision. 

Unfortunately, with their position, Ran’s outstretched hand tugs her sleeve down so that her soulmark is exposed to the customers who come in.

That’s how Hondo Eisuke finds them. 

“Ran-san!” 

A familiar voice calls out to her. 

Shinichi and Ran instinctively pull away from each other and see a person hurrying over to them, a bouquet of blue flowers covering their face. They share a glance wondering if this person really knows them, when the person almost trips and falls over. The bouquet gets crushed on one side in an attempt not to fall over and the stumble reveals the face of Hondo Eisuke. 

This isn’t the first time Shinichi and Eisuke have met recently (once as Conan and once as Shinichi, both times for work regarding the Black Organization), but to Shinichi’s knowledge, this is the first time that Ran has met the man since high school. The puzzled look on Ran’s face says the same. 

Eisuke gives them an embarrassed but bright smile and makes his way over to them. 

Ran slides over on her bench to make room for him and he settles next to her, handing her the flowers eagerly. She instinctively takes them before setting them back down on the table. 

The shade of blue starts ringing alarm bells in Shinichi’s head. 

“It is true?” Eisuke asks, his face soft with wonder and happiness as he stares at Ran almost eagerly. 

“Eh?” Ran’s doesn’t know how to answer. 

Shinichi leans in, scowling. “Is what true, Hondo?” He asks. 

Eisuke ignores him and instead makes a noise of delight as he stares at-

Ran’s soulmark. 

Then he gives Ran a secretive smile, “It might be easier to show you!” He says cheerfully  _ and starts unbuttoning his shirt.  _

“Oi!” Shinichi hisses. It’s not crowded thankfully, but this is definitely not the time nor the place. 

Ran lets out a small ‘eep’ and Shinichi is about to yank the other guy away when Eisuke bares his chest and reveals his own soulmark. 

\-----

The mark is a shock to them both, so instead of dealing with it right away, they finish up at the cafe and promise to contact Eisuke about the mark. Well, Ran makes the promise, while Shinichi marches Eisuke out of the restaurant. 

They agree to talk about-  _ it _ after Shinichi’s shift. He would have called in sick, but Ran doesn’t let him and pushes him out the door.

So now he’s overthinking, trying to get through all of his work at the station, while he occasionally looks at the picture he took of Eisuke’s soulmark. 

The evidence is pretty damning. 

With Eisuke’s permission, Shinichi had palpated the mark, although he had a hunch that it was real. Some tattoos were indistinguishable from soulmarks, but Eisuke’s mark seemed too perfect (no raised edges, no scarring, just smooth skin) to be anything other than the real thing. 

That and the positioning was very dire. It was unlikely that Eisuke would have allowed a tattoo there if he could help it. 

The mark is made with soft colors, the flower circling around his incision scar. The stem is a gentle green and the flower a pastel blue, making the white of his scar stand out. The shape around the scar is a near perfect circle, but the leaves from the stem and the petals of the flower bloom out from the circle. The flower is either closed or still a bud, all the petals curled inward of itself. 

The shape is obviously different from Ran’s, although it’s curling in the same direction hers is. It’s not the right color or vividness, but it is blue. It could be a bluebell, or it could be a different flower completely. 

The mark isn't exactly the same as Ran’s, but it is close enough that he can’t say for certain that it isn’t a match. 

This is what Shinichi’s been waiting for, someone to appear with a soulmark to match Ran’s. It's already been a few weeks and Shinichi’s still hasn’t come in (if it will come in at all). They’re both losing hope, although they’ve been acting like things are normal. He had almost been convinced to ignore the mark and carry on. 

He’s not going to give up now just because someone has appeared with a mark (after all, it’s  _ Hondo Eisuke _ ), but he wants Ran to make an informed decision. 

(Shinichi thought that Hondo wasn’t interested in Ran. The man had admitted in high school that it was a ploy to get Conan/Shinichi to drop his guard… But who wouldn’t want to date Ran?) 

There’s no way Ran will choose Hondo Eisuke (over him). The man is only... Another detective like Shinichi... Who is training to be an FBI agent... And has filled out from the last few years...

…

Okay and perhaps ‘humility and ever-lasting love’ suited the man…

Anyways! Ran’s opinion is the most important one and they would be having this discussion after Shinichi’s shift. 

Shinichi ends up having to stay when a big break in the case comes up and they put their talk on hold until the case is finished. 

\-----

He doesn’t get the chance to go back to the agency until he’s finished, which is two days after the incident. 

To his surprise, there’s a crowd outside the entrance and someone stopping people from going upstairs. Shoot, is there a public case that Kogoro-occhan got involved in? He hopes that isn’t the case. He hasn’t been able to stealthily solve a case after turning back into Shinichi. Too many people notice him as an adult. The man threatened to ban him from dating Ran after the last time he had to solve a case for the man. 

As he gets closer it doesn’t look like there’s any media, so maybe it’s not a case? No one looks particularly angry either, so it’s not a scandal. Maybe occhan got pulled into a celebrity stunt or another commercial? 

The demographic is skewed rather young. People about his age, both men and women, a good percentage of people older than that in their 30’s to 40’s, and some middle aged people mixed in the crowd. Not many above the age of 70. That could be about the right age for the Mori Kogoro fan base depending on what occhan agreed to do. 

“Please let us see them!” Someone cries out.

“Yeah! I just want to see if they’re my match!” 

The crowd gets pushed into a frenzy and Shinichi can’t even get past them. 

“Stop right there!” A familiar voice said. 

It’s Sonoko. She is standing on the stairs looking imperiously over the crowd, her stance wide and one hand on her hip. The other hand is on the shoulder of- Makoto, who is keeping everybody at bay. 

“If you want to get to Ran, you have to go through me!” She continues.

A few in the crowd try their luck again, but get pushed back by Makoto. This continues a few times, before Shinichi hears the familiar alert of a police car. The arrival of several police cars and officers helps to stop the madness although the crowd doesn’t disperse. 

“What’s going on here?” A familia officer, Yumi-san asks. 

“We just want to meet our soulmate!” Someone says. 

“Hah?” The officer makes a disbelieving face. “All of you?” 

Sonoko immediately jumps in, “They’re trying to force their way into Ran’s home!” 

“That’s no good,” Yumi-san says to the crowd disapprovingly. The other officers with her make the same face. “Listen, it doesn’t matter if you think she’s your soulmate. If she tells you to back off then you back off. Don’t make me give out tickets for attempted breaking and entering,” Yumi-san warns. 

That gets quite a few grumbles, but the crowd starts to disperse. Some look like they might want to take the risk, when Sonoko clears her throat. Everybody looks up to her and she points to Makoto who has gotten a hold of a cinder block. The man then proceeds to crush it with his bare hands. 

Silence falls over the area. 

“Don’t think you can come back later, either,” Sonoko warns, breaking the silence. “Me and my boyfriend-“ Sonoko gives Makoto’s shoulder a squeeze and the man blushes, crushing the concrete further into dust, “-will be with her.” 

Threat understood, the doorway empties. 

As soon as Sonoko sees Shinichi, she’s quick to snag him and drag him up the stairs. “Thank you for coming, Yumi-san,” she calls out. 

“You’re welcome! Let me know how things go!” The officer calls behind them. 

Shinichi is rushed up the stairs and he spots Kogoro-occhan in the agency taking phone call after phone call, “This is Mori Kogoro- quit calling about my daughter!” 

They go into the living room upstairs where Ran is wide-eyed and panicking. 

\-----

The fault lies with Kogoro-occhan. Despite taking less cases (really no cases, Shinichi’s been doing all the leg work), the old man has been careful to keep up his fame. With all of his connections, Kogoro-occhan manages to get himself invited to high profile parties and to keep his coveted C-list celebrity status. One of the ways he keeps his fame is making sure that he always keeps his face in the media, whether through talk shows, commercials, Kid heists, or in this case, pictures at parties. 

The last party they had all gone to was at Sonoko’s invitation. Kogoro-occhan had smiled wide for the cameras and given the media a good picture to use for the article. It wasn’t the most prominent one for the party, but it was a colored one with a caption. 

Unbeknownst to them, Ran had been in the background, laughing prettily at a joke that Sonoko had said. She was dressed beautifully in a white and baby blue dress that brought out the color of her soulmark. The soulmark which was clearly displayed in the picture. The caption had given both Mori’s names and a blurb about who Mori Kogoro was. (No mention of Kudo Shinichi the boyfriend.) 

The picture made its way online where it started being shared over and over again until someone shared the Mori Detective Agency contact information and address and people started to show up in  _ droves _ . 

Hondo Eisuke had only been the start of it and had beat the crowd. 

\-----

“Don’t worry Ran, you can stay with me in the meantime,” Sonoko says. “Makoto-san will be able to keep everyone away.”

Makoto nods in agreement. 

Ran blows a bit of hair that was drifting too close to her eyes and makes a face. “I wish there was some way to make them go away. Is there...” she hesitates, “no way for me to make an announcement?” 

That’s how serious this is, that Ran even considers something like an announcement. Ran hates the fame that dogs his friends’ and families’ steps and for her to purposefully put herself in the spotlight- she must really want this whole thing to end. 

Sonoko shakes her head. “Sorry, Ran. You’re not quite famous enough to warrant that. It might just attract more attention.” 

Ran’s face falls, her brows furrowing and her mouth twisting in displeasure. Shinichi gives her hand a squeeze for support and Ran squeezes back (a little too hard, but he can handle it for now). “Then, what? I’ll have to reject each one?” She asks. 

“Yes,” Sonoko says, and everyone looks at her aghast. “But don’t worry!” She quickly adds. “We can help you- I’ll help you send the rejections. Most of these people will stop as soon as someone sends something official.” 

Shinichi has his doubts, but out of all them, Sonoko knew how to handle the situation best and he’s willing to follow her lead. 

\-----

One “leaked” email address later, and they have a way of rejecting most of the potential matches right off the bat. Sonoko takes great pleasure in pretending to be Ran and sending out rejections. 

With Ran staying at Sonoko’s, the four of them (Shinichi, Ran, Sonoko, and Makoto) often find themselves in each other’s company. Which is great, because things have been- strained between Ran and Shinichi lately. 

While leaking a way to contact Ran is a good way to stop random strangers from approaching (Makoto walking with her to and from class stopped anyone from confronting her in person after they “leaked” who he was and a video of him being able to destroy concrete with his bare hands along with a video of Ran decimating a stack of ceramic plates with her fingers), it doesn’t stop the influx of those who actually know her from reaching out. There are former and current classmates, celebrities, a parade of acquaintances (a man Ran often sees in the grocery store, a worker from a restaurant they frequented, etc), and even people they’ve encountered from cases. 

These people are a little more difficult for Ran to turn down and she side-steps them without outright rejecting them. 

It gets even more complicated when people reach out on behalf of others. When Heiji calls him, Shinichi doesn’t even think twice about the why. He hasn’t seen the other detective much outside of work pertaining to the Black Organization, but Heiji often calls him randomly. 

But instead of wanting to talk about cases, Heiji wants to talk about Ran. 

“I’m sorry to hear what happened to your girlfriend, Shinichi. How are you doing?” 

That should probably start the alarm bells in Shinichi’s mind, but he’s actually grateful to get the chance to complain. Heiji listens patiently as Shinichi rants about everything that's been happening. By the end of it, he feels much better about being able to get everything off his chest. 

“Thanks, Heiji,” Shinichi says when he’s done. “It’s a madhouse, there are so many people trying to reach out to Ran. Ran doesn’t even touch her phone anymore. Oh, if you or Kazuha tried to contact her recently I don’t think she saw it.” 

“Aw, that’s fine. I haven’t, but I’ll make sure to let Kazuha know what's happening.” 

“How have you two been? Are you calling about a case?” 

“Kazuha’s stranger than usual-“

“Why, what’s wrong?” 

Heiji lets out a sigh. “I dunno. Either she was either dumped or dumped someone- or maybe a date she had went wrong- but she’s been weird lately. Love troubles if I had to guess. She’s even wearing her hair down.”

“Oh.” That is strange. Shinichi has never seen Kazuha purposefully wear her hair down. 

“But don’t worry, if it’s really something big she’ll talk to the girls about it,” Heiji adds. 

“Okay, I’ll let them know to be on the lookout for that. In the meantime, tell me about your cases, Heiji,” Shinichi could use the distraction. “That’s why you called right.” 

Heiji lets out a nervous chuckle, “Funny thing about that…” 

As it turns out, dozens of people have contacted Heiji so that he could put in a good word with Ran. He rejected all of them and told them he wasn’t doing it, but they wouldn’t take no for an answer. It’s giving him trouble at his police office. Shinichi sighs, but agrees to help Heiji out. It’s not his fault and Shinichi’s sorry that he’s having trouble at work. He takes down their information so that Sonoko can send out rejection emails. 

Heiji rattles off a truly impressive number of people, from kendo and aikido that he and Kazuha know, to officers, and to those who saw a glimpse of Ran when she was in Osaka. 

The list goes on and on. 

\-----

Things slow down after all, thankfully, enough so that Ran and Shinichi can go out on their own. 

They still get approached, but it’s rarer now. Shinichi makes sure to note them down, collecting their basic information and anything else that's relevant (including anything about their soulmark). Ran makes a face at him when he does so and Shinichi gives her an imploring look with each new person that comes forward that’s not a stranger. 

Especially when one of them turns out to be a close friend...

They’re on a leisurely date, one of the first dates they’ve been on since this whole trouble started when someone calls out to them. 

“Yo!” 

Both of them turn to see Sera Masumi walking towards them. 

Shinichi should have known then and there that there would be trouble ahead. 

“Masumi-chan!” Ran says, smiling. 

“Ah, Masumi.” Shinichi is.. a little suspicious of her appearance. She disappeared from Ran and Sonoko’s life during the fight against the Black Organization, although her and Shinichi’s paths often crossed. For her to return with this timing can’t be a coincidence. 

He takes in her appearance, she in her casual clothes, the ones she normally wears when she’s investigating, hat included. Except- she’s wearing a skirt. She never wears a skirt. The only exception was her school uniform. Granted the skirt she’s wearing is very stylish, suits her outfit, and shows off her legs, but it’s just so out of the ordinary that Shinichi can’t help but stare. 

Ran and Masumi move forward to hug and Shinichi can’t help but get to her first. 

“Oh? What’s wrong, Kudo?” Masumi says with a sly grin. 

“What are you here for, Masumi?” He asks. 

“About that,” Masumi says, cheerfully. 

They find themselves back at Sonko’s just the three of them and Masumi has made herself at home like she usually does. She lounges on a chaise and beckons them closer. She then playfully flops a leg over the back and Shinichi looks away. Has she forgotten that she’s wearing a skirt?

“I know this is bad timing, but I wanted to show it to the both of you,” she says. 

Ran gasps and that’s when Shinichi has to look. 

On her right thigh is a soulmark. 

\-----

Just like Eisuke, Masumi lets Shinichi touch the mark. The skin is smooth there and Masumi had let him touch her other thigh to compare and the skin is identical. The mark is too perfect to be anything other than a soulmark. He takes a picture (with her permission) for his records. 

Masumi’s flower is one in full bloom, the bell of the flower faces the viewer head-on. The color is a vivid blue, almost too bright against the skin of Masumi’s thigh. The flower is the color of the blues of the deep ocean, but almost imperceptibly softening in hue when it comes to the cone. In the middle are yellow stamen breaking up the deep blue. Despite the intensity of the color, the petals are perfectly rounded, softening the overall feel of the flower. 

Masumi’s flower isn’t an exact match of Ran’s either but Shinichi isn’t familiar enough with flowers to say whether this one is a bluebell or not. It’s a bright vivid flower like Ran’s, but obviously not the same color. From how the flower is angled, it could be the same species, but it’s impossible to say for sure. 

Unfortunately, Masumi is also a logical contender. ‘Everlasting love’ is an easy one for her. And Masumi has really grown into herself, learning humility all in order to defeat the Black Organization. 

Not only that, but she’s a fantastic detective, is an impressive driver, an amazing martial artist, and has a roguish charm. Even the position of her mark is charming. Intimate, yes, but it would also be visible during one of her trademark highkicks. It suits her. 

Really, this just reminds Shinichi that Ran could have anyone she wanted. 

It’s not that Shinichi is doubting his ability to love Ran, he’s just- overthinking the fact that there are others that could love her too. When he starts to overthink, it becomes the only thing he can think about and he mulls over the idea without pause. 

Sonoko is the one to confront him about it first. It turns into a fight, which she shifts into an interrogation, and then Shinichi is spilling everything to her. He feels better after telling her until she calls a meeting for the four of them. 

“I’ve talked to both of you-“ she starts, and Ran and Shinichi share a look, although Shinichi really shouldn’t be surprised, “-and I think we need to talk things out and clear up this little newlywed spat.” 

Shinichi frowns at the expression. 

“So I want you to make it clear what you think about each other, clear the air, and I’ll let you know what  _ I  _ think,” Sonoko finishes. 

When she does, Ran immediately stands. Her hands are up in front of her (thankfully, not in a stance, she’s too angry right now for that), her fists balled up tight. Her eyes are furious. 

But when her voice comes out, it’s in a tone more disappointed than angry. “Shinichi thinks that I’ll toss away our relationship just because I have a soulmark now. I’ve waited for him this whole time without a mark!”

Sonoko holds out a hand so that Shinichi wouldn’t immediately argue back. She nods looking serious. “Hm, this is true. You’ve waited for him this whole time even without the mark, so he shouldn’t doubt your feelings.” 

Then she turns to address him. “In that case, Kudo Shinichi-kun, are you having doubts about dating Ran and are you using this as an excuse to break up?” 

“What? No! Of course not,” Shinichi vehemently says. 

“Good, good. I’m glad that we have that covered,” Sonoko nods. “Then Shinichi, present your side.”

Shinichi also can’t help but curl his hands into fists. He has them stuffed into his pockets so they can’t see, but his shoulders are tense so they must be able to tell how stressed he is. 

He starts, “I have no doubts that Ran loves me and I love her,” Ran flusters a little at that declaration (she still gets a little embarrassed, it’s cute), while Sonoko rolls her eyes and Makoto looks away a bit red, “-even though we’re not soulmates. But she’s being presented with an opportunity that she’s always wanted. I wouldn’t want to take that away from her.” 

This time Sonoko stops Ran from speaking. Sonoko nods again. “That’s true. We’ve always dreamed about having soulmates. Now that Ran has a mark it seems a shame not to pursue your match.”

“Sonoko!” Ran sounds scandalized.

“What? Your husband is practically giving you permission,” Sonoko waves a hand at Shinichi. 

“I am,” Shinichi pipes up (even as he gets embarrassed by Sonoko’s teasing). “Not because I don’t love you, but.. as a detective I don’t think it’s wrong to look at all the evidence.” 

Sonoko rolls her eyes at that, but Ran’s eyes soften. 

“If I may,” Makoto tentatively speaks. Shinichi almost jumps. He almost forgot the man is there with them. “Ran-san, your mark may not even be romantic. In that case, this is the best time to look for them with your current fame. You may not get a better chance than this.” 

Ran’s mouth falls into a perfect ‘o’ of surprise and Sonoko compliments Makoto for ‘bringing up a perfect point’. 

Shinichi nods, although he’s not so sure. Soulmark symbolism usually did have some correlation with the partner and something like ‘ever-lasting love’ sounds.. romantic. 

But Ran starts to smile, warning up to the idea. “That would be nice, to share a mark with a friend.” 

Sonoko suddenly snaps her fingers, “That’s it! Let me get a tattoo of your soulmark.” 

“What!” “What!” Both Ran and Shinichi gasp out. 

Makoto just gives Sonoko a warm smile. 

Sonoko holds out her left hand, pointing to the side of her wrist. “Wouldn’t it look good on me? And that way I have your mark too, Ran.” 

Ran sputters, “I- I-“

“What about you, Makoto? Do  _ you  _ care if Sonoko gets another mark?” Shinichi asks. 

Because Sonoko is serious. She will tattoo herself with Ran’s mark if she gets her permission. It’s never a question of ‘can she do it’ but ‘ _ should _ she do it’. 

Because she’s done it before. Out of the four of them, Makoto is the only one born with a soulmark (only one with a soulmark until now). His soulmark is on the back of his left shoulder, a lovely scene of a sunset against a cliff; a view that is found in his hometown. His match was found quite early in his life, and the man it belonged to turned out to be Makoto’s first karate sensei. 

After Makoto and Sonoko made their engagement official, Sonoko had gotten the exact matching mark on her own shoulder. This had surprised Ran and Shinichi at the time, but Sonoko had waved them off stating that it was ‘romantic and seemed fitting to share a mark with Makoto’s sensei. Karate helped bring them together after all.’

“I think if you’re okay with it, Ran-san, then there should be no issue,” Makoto says. 

“AND whoever is your match should be okay with it if they’re your match, Ran,” Sonoko says. “Please? If you’re okay with it, I would really like sharing your mark.” 

Ran starts to smile brightly. “Are you sure?” 

“Of course I’m sure!” Sonoko exclaims.

Her energy is infectious and Ran nods. “Then, yes. Please.” 

“Me too.” 

Everybody turns to Shinichi. “I want to get it tattooed too,” he repeats. 

“Shinichi…” 

Sonoko and Makoto slip out, while Ran and Shinichi stare into each other’s eyes. 

Then they start to talk. It helps that Sonoko got them started. They aren’t angry anymore, just unsure of the future. They go over everything in soft hushed voices until they both agree to Sonoko’s plans. And they separate romantically because otherwise they’ll just cling to each other and they had promised that they would do this right. The other person (romantic or otherwise) deserves this chance. 

Their breaking up feels final to Shinichi. It doesn’t feel like they’ll get together again. Shinichi just hopes that whoever that soulmate is, is good for Ran. Though they should be if they’re matched with Ran. 

But just in case, he wiggles a promise out of Ran that he can do his own investigation on Ran’s soulmate.

A few weeks later, both Sonoko and Shinichi are sporting a matching bluebell tattoo on their left wrists. 

\-----

The separation between them is so big, it eclipses everything else. He tries to distract himself with his investigations and cases and it half works. 

Shinichi sometimes forgets the mark is there. He doesn’t cover it up, but he does wear long sleeves for work so it’s rare for the mark to be visible. But when it is, he’s filled with a bittersweet emotion. The separation is hard, but there is a part of him that’s happy that he’ll always have this connection and reminder of her. 

The reactions afterwards are annoying though. People congratulate him about the mark or ask him what happened with Ran’s mark and Shinichi often sidesteps the questions. 

Although the most surprising result of the tattoo is that Shinichi gets his own share of confrontation from those who think he’s their soulmate. (Later, Sonoko tells him that she also gets her own share of the same reaction.) When this happens he’s forced to explain the whole situation and then take down anyone’s information who’s interested in meeting Ran…

It’s awkward. 

And he gets a taste of what Ran’s been feeling especially when it happens with someone he knows. 

\-----

“Subaru-san!” 

Shinichi looks away as the man starts untying the bandage on his left hand. He catches a flash of bright magenta- flowers maybe in the man’s palm, before he looks away. 

“You don’t want to look?” The man asks, amused. 

He does, but at the same time it would only satisfy his personal curiosity. Nothing good would come out of knowing. 

Shinichi sighs and lifts his own wrist for inspection. He keeps looking away. “If you were really that concerned about the mark, you would have talked to Ran,” Shinichi says. He almost jumps when a hand gently turns his wrist for a better view. 

Subaru-san makes a ‘hm’ noise before letting go. Shinichi can hear the rustle of cloth as the man hides his mark again. 

“I just wanted to make sure,” he says, unconvincingly. 

Shinichi feels a soft touch of alarm of the statement. That’s not a ‘no, they don’t match’, but before Shinichi can ask any further, Subaru-san continues, 

“The date it came in was rather auspicious. If I remember right, it was a similar date to Ran-san’s,” he says. 

Shinichi asks him the date and Subaru-san gives it to him. 

It lines up with Ran’s. 

That gives Shinichi something to chew on. 

\-----

It isn’t too long before Ai confronts him too. She’s been helping him with the tattoo’s healing process, but he feels like this is the first time that she’s taking a look at the mark itself. He’s bent down awkwardly as she turns his wrist to get a good look at the mark. She even takes a photo for her own records. 

“You’ve seen it before, what’s changed now?” Shinichi asks with a wince when Ai pokes at the mark hard enough to hurt. 

She’s frowning, utterly displeased with the mark. It isn’t unusual, she had a similar expression while the mark was attempting to heal. “I haven’t seen it up close when it’s fully healed,” she says in way of explanation. 

Shinichi tries not to frown harder, but it’s hard not to. The mark doesn’t look like it's changed at all. He gives her a look and she makes a pained face. 

“Fine,” she snaps. “It’s difficult for me to see due to its positioning, but tell me if you think it could be a match,” Ai says, stomping her foot almost childishly. 

He’s about to tease her for it when he registers what she said. 

Oh no. 

Not another potential match. 

This time he doesn’t look away, because Ai wants to know, so he patiently waits. Instead of the mark being somewhere reasonable, Ai has to turn around and lift up her shirt to show off the mark. (No wonder she’s having trouble viewing it.) The mark sits in between her shoulder bladers, and she has to bend forward to smooth the mark out.

Her soulmark is a burst of colors, a line of magenta flowers along the center of her back. Shinichi supposes that at first glance the flowers could be mistaken for bluebells, but they’re clearly not. The flowers are conical in shape with near-perfect round openings. Spots of darker purple surrounded by a rim of white, line the bottom of the insides of the flower, disappearing into the cones. Thankfully, Shinichi recognizes this flower. 

“They’re foxgloves,” he says, and then straightens after the declaration. “I think there’s a low chance of a match,” he adds. 

Ai puts her outfit to rights and looks considerate. Then she flicks her eyes to him. “How did you know? You’ve been sending me and the professor flower mark after flower mark to research, but this one you recognized right away?” 

“I just need someone to double-check my theories,” Shinichi says, with a frown. He doesn’t deign Ai’s other question with an answer. But she stares at him and he guiltily admits, “Foxgloves are poisonous. I’ve seen them used in one of my cases.” 

“Ah.” Ai’s face falls for a moment before recovering. 

The expression hurts Shinichi, because even though she’s a scientist, she too is also sensitive to the matters of soulmarks. Before he can decide on how to console her, she continues, 

“And do you know the meaning of foxgloves?” She asks, lightly. 

Unfortunately he does, and the meaning is... Well, it does suit her. “Foxgloves are not only poisonous, but medicinal,” he says slowly. “So they can have two meanings, ‘sometimes to hurt and ‘sometimes to heal’.” 

Ai is silent after hearing their meaning. Then she slowly nods. “It suits me,” she says, softly. 

“..It does,” Shinichi agrees. 

“It’s a better mark than I deserve,” she continues briskly, and before Shinichi can argue, she adds, “And a prettier one too. It doesn’t clash with my hair, does it?” 

“It doesn’t,” Shinichi answers, for lack of something else to say. They actually look great with her hair. 

“Good, good,” Ai says absently before turning away. Clearly, the conversation is over. 

He should say something, though right? Maybe a comment about how her soulmark suited her. How her flowers were both beautiful from an artistic and scientific standpoint. How the magenta is bold against her skin-

Magenta. 

(A flash of color. The curve of a flower. The dotted insides of a bell.) 

“When did you get your soulmark?” Shinichi ends up asking. 

Ai gives him an unimpressed look and rattles off an approximate date. 

Oh. 

Something must give away on his face, because she gives him a stink eye. “It’s not too strange. That’s about when the Black Organization was done for good.” 

So it is.

An auspicious date indeed. 

\-----

“Tell me about your latest meet-up.”

Shinichi and Ran may no longer be dating, but that doesn’t mean they still aren’t very close. Things have calmed down as of late (for all of them), and they start going out more regularly. Shinichi uses the chance to ask how Ran’s meetings with her potential matches have been. 

(He’s nosy like that.)

Ran rolls her eyes, but talks to him about them. Shinichi mentally crosses off names off his list and starts to form a potential theory about those who are matching better with Ran than not. 

Not any flower can work, a bluebell matters, that much they’ve determined, but Shinichi also realizes that the timing of when the soulmark appears matters. Similar to the time that Ran’s mark came in, yes, but the timing also has to coincide with when the Black Organization was taken down. He realizes that correlation is not causation, but in this case Shinichi wonders if he just hasn’t discovered what the correlation is. 

“I happened to meet Masumi-chan again. She happened to be working on a case in the area,” Ran mentions, off-handedly. 

(Shinichi doesn’t think it’s a coincidence, but he doesn’t say that aloud.) 

“That’s good. You typically get into trouble and having Masumi there will only help,” Shinichi says, before dodging a playful hit. 

“Shinichi!” Ran says, with a giggle. 

“It balances out when Hondo comes to cause trouble,” Shinichi adds. 

“He’s just clumsy,” Ran defends, although she lets out a giggle at that too. She’s been seeing him more often too. 

(Shinichi holds back a remark on how he’s also doing it on purpose to get her attention.)

The two of them are amongst the few that have a bluebell mark that appeared with a similar timing to Ran’s. (The timing makes sense. Their lives have been intertwined with the Black Organization for a while.) They’re the.. most likely candidates for a match. If not both of them. 

But they have to work for it. Shinichi isn’t going to let them be the match unless they prove they’re worthy of her. 

Shinichi says something to make Ran laugh again, resolving himself to solve this case and make sure Ran is happy. 

\-----

The case is a great distraction, but it’s just that, a distraction. 

Shinichi’s life is a little.. less great now. 

Ran and him are no longer dating, which isn’t terrible because they’re still great friends, but it can also be awkward and strange not being each other’s number one priority. 

The cases (and paperwork) have picked up too, and while interesting, they can be very emotionally exhausting. The officers at the station haven’t quite figured how to treat broken-up-with-Ran Shinichi, but hopefully they’ll settle into something that doesn’t involve inviting him out to drink every night to sort his woes. (Their exact words.) 

Thankfully, there’s something that hasn’t changed. 

“My audience!” 

Kaito Kid's voice seems to echo despite the loud cheers of the crowd and the yelling from the Kid Task Squad. The magic he’s done has riled everyone up and there’s a frenzy of movement from the audience. Except for Shinichi of course. He’s deconstructing Kid’s magic trick and thinking of the thief’s next move. (He absently wonders why the thief decided to do the show one-handed.)

The building is too secure, so in all likelihood.. The next rooftop over is their meeting point. 

He’s looking forward to meeting him. With all the craziness of the soulmarks, his only point of normalcy are Kid heists (and isn’t that mind-boggling). Shinichi knows what to expect from a Kid heist and they are doing good work too. He doesn’t have to feel bad about taking time off of his other cases to come. And sometimes the magic and Kid’s planning are so spectacular he manages to forget his current situation. Can pretend that he’s just a regular detective that solves mysteries. 

Well, Shinichi can dream. 

He’s discreetly made his way to the other building, and is waiting for the thief. He can hear the sounds of the officers and the audience even from this far away and he chuckles under his breath. Kid certainly is a showman. 

His cell phone buzzes, interrupting his thoughts. It’s Sonoko who’s sending him some of the more outrageous requests for Ran’s attention. Normally, he would be all for laughing it up with Sonoko, but tonight he wants a break from soulmarks. 

Shinichi catches the sound of cloth shifting in the wind and he looks up from his phone. 

“Ah! You’re finally here,” he says. 

“Meitantei, nice to see you,” Kid says. The man looks pristine despite the officers chasing him moments ago and Shinichi catches a hint of a smile underneath the hat. Kid’s in a good mood. 

He’s about to ask why (maybe make a quip about it) when Kid checks the jewel for Pandora. The thief does so with his right hand, while the left stays firmly in his pocket. 

Huh. 

Shinichi did notice that the man had been performing strangely during his magic show. He had thought it was a prelude to a trick, but maybe the man had been injured. There’s a pang of guilt at that. Here the thief is trying to do good, but got hurt in the process. Maybe he should talk to the inspector about going easy on the thief. But before he can ask about the potential injury, the man tosses the jewel at him. 

Thankfully, Shinichi’s reflexes don’t fail him and he manages to catch it with his left hand. He checks the jewel quickly so that he can ask about the thief’s hand. 

“Yeah, yeah, not Pandora, that’s what we were expecting,” Shinichi says, depositing the jewel in his pocket. He’ll make sure that it gets back to the proper owner. “What I want to talk about is that.” And Shinichi points to the thief’s left hand.

Kid doesn’t react, but Shinichi gets the impression that the man is surprised. 

“You’ve been hiding it since the heist,” Shinichi says. “What happened?” 

The thief blinks, before giving a casual shrug. “Ah this? It’s just a tattoo.” 

Kid pulls his hand out of his pocket and gently yanks down his sleeve. 

The sight of what’s there makes Shinichi freeze. 

That’s Ran’s soulmark. 

A bluebell that stands stark against Kaito Kid’s skin even in the moonlight. It rests just below his wrist, soft and gentle. Shinichi traces every line and curve. He knows this mark, has it sitting on his own left wrist, and he would have to take a closer look at it to see if it’s the same, but it’s pretty damn close. A match. 

Shinichi deduces that the thief normally hides the mark due to its location. The mark would probably peek out of the thief's sleeves during a magic trick. They’ve probably had it hidden this whole time and Shinichi has to wonder if the timing of the mark’s appearance lines up with Ran’s. 

Shinichi gives himself a mental shake. 

He looks up to see Kaito looking at him warily. Right. The mark would be an easy way to identify who Kid is under that suit, but Shinichi was never concerned with the thief’s identity. 

Until now. 

Kaito puts his hand down and the mark disappears underneath a sleeve. 

“How did you get that?” The words are out before Shinichi can decide what to do with this new discovery. 

“It’s recent,” Kid says with a shrug. “Seems like a soulmark.” 

Kid sounds so nonchalant when they’re saying this, and maybe to them it is. Or maybe they’re trying to be casual because they know who the soulmark belongs to? Did the mark develop around the same time as Ran’s? Did they realize but decide not to pursue her? Do they care?

Or maybe they care a lot, Shinichi realizes with a start. Kid has always tried their best to charm Ran in the past (especially dressed as Shinichi). They were drawn to her, which wasn’t surprising at all to Shinichi. A lot of people realized how amazing Ran was. 

Shinichi now knows that Kid has put their own personal life on hold until Pandora has been taken care of. Maybe the thief wants to pursue Ran. Maybe, by showing the mark to Shinichi, Kid is taking the steps to do so. Maybe the thief wants to ask for Shinichi’s advice on what to do. 

God, the pairing made so much sense. (More so than Masumi or Eisuke.) Kid is handsome, charming, and clever. Even as a civilian, Kid is probably cheerful and the life of the party. Not to mention smart in their own right and physically fit. The thief is a mix of everything good about Shinichi and more. 

Shinichi can imagine the thief taking Ran out on a date, making her smile, performing a magic trick to make Ran’s eyes sparkle, leaning in-

“Meitantei?” 

Kid’s voice snaps him out of his reverie. Shinichi looks up to see Kid looking quizzically at him. Shinichi must have been lost in his own thoughts. 

“Ah, sorry! I was just thinking a bit…” 

An understatement really. 

Kaito Kid’s brow furrows and Shinichi looks away. He can’t deal with this now. The revelation is too much for him. If the thief asks for his help, he’ll help, but he needs some time to process things. 

“It’s nothing,” Kid says, but Shinichi can hear the strain in the thief’s voice. They must have wanted to ask about the mark and here Shinichi is clearly obstructing them. 

“Okay then,” Shinichi chokes out. 

So that means Kid is Ran’s soulmate? Well, Shinichi is happy for her. He’ll have to tell her right away...

Another day, he promises himself. He’ll figure out everything that needs to be done another day. 

\-----

Shinichi gives himself three days to process (freak out) before contacting Kid. He doesn’t want to scare the thief off so he offers them a way to meet him at a heist. There’s a jewel that Sonoko off-handedly mentioned that’s coming to Japan and he sends the article to Kid along with a message before he can think about it too deeply. 

The private heist notice comes to Shinichi quickly (too quickly, Kid must have wanted to talk) and Shinichi counts down the days.

Shinichi waits on the roof, he doesn’t even try to stop the thief. In turn, Kid doesn’t do anything fancy or a show. Kid’s in and out, and on the roof, walking towards him. 

Shinichi’s been waiting for him. 

“Where’s the jewel?” Shinichi asks.

“I left it in it’s hiding place,” Kid replies. Normally, Shinichi would curse the man because he wants to do his own check, but this situation isn’t normal. “It wasn’t what we were looking for.” 

Shinichi nods. 

The roof falls into silence. Neither of them say anything. Shinichi doesn’t want this conversation to come to pass, but here he is. Kid stays silent too, probably wondering how to broach the subject. It must be strange to ask about a love interest from the ex. 

In the end, it’s Shinichi who decides to do something. He has to take a look at the mark. Confirm it for himself what the mark looks like up close. 

He moves forward, slowly. Surprisingly, Kid doesn’t move away. They allow Shinichi to approach, and Shinichi keeps his eyes down out of respect to the thief’s identity. Or maybe he keeps his head down so his eyes can concentrate on the man’s wrist. 

The sight of the wristband over the mark has Shinichi grabbing the thief’s wrist, lifting it up to his eyes. The wristband is removed immediately and he starts inspecting the mark. With the moon out, the light is good enough for Shinichi to make a thorough inspection. 

It’s similar. Like he had thought, it’s not exactly the same as Ran’s, but it’s close. The size is off, but it’s proportional to the thief’s wrist. It’s turned a little differently, but looks natural. The curve of the stem and the flower is about the same, and holds the same feeling as Ran’s. The color is not exact, but the flower is still a brilliant shade of blue and the stem a similar, albit darker green. The colors suit the thief’s white suit and eyes. 

The soulmark is a match. 

Shinichi hasn’t personally seen many exact matches in his life, but he knows that this would be close enough to be considered one. God, this is insane. Kaito Kid? Ran’s soulmate? 

He looks up at the thief’s eyes and can see the nervousness that the other can’t quite hide. 

“What’s the verdict, meitantei?” Kid asks. 

Shinichi pulls away. He has to distance himself before he gives the answer. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” Shinichi apologizes, but in reality he’s just buying time, trying to delay the inevitable. “I know how important soulmarks are to people.” 

Kid doesn’t say a word, just tips their hat hiding their eyes. 

“And to answer your question, that mark…” He can’t delay this any longer. Shinichi takes a deep breath and asks: 

“How do you feel about Mori Ran?


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: ~12.9k

So apparently a little more stalking would have been a good idea, because then Kaito would have known that the soulmark on Shinichi’s wrist isn’t actually the detective’s, but MORI RAN’S soulmark. 

(Kaito almost gives himself a concussion, the amount of times he’s hit his head when he thinks about it.)

After that realization, Kaito had been all but useless on the rooftop while Shinichi had interrogated him over his feelings for the woman (of which he has no strong opinions except be careful not to piss her off) and Kaito had managed to stammer out something along the lines of her being ‘a lovely young woman’. (He had relied on his Kid persona to get through that conversation.) Then he had flown away. While Shinichi had been yelling after him. 

And now he’s back in the Kid Cave, hitting his head on every hard surface because Shinichi thinks that his soulmark is a match to Ran’s. 

Right. 

\-----

“I found one, Ran.”

“Found what, Shinichi?” 

Right after Ran’s classes, Shinichi had ambushed her, telling her to pick a take-out place so that they could have a conversation in private. Now they’re at the Mori Detective Agency, having dinner together in the living room. Kogoro-occhan is out having drinks with friends so they’re alone. 

“I’ve found an exact match for you,” Shinichi says, seriously. He can't hide this from her. 

Ran’s eyes widen in surprise and she almost drops her chopsticks. She catches herself and sets them down. Her hands go to her lap and she leans in.

“Really? Wait, why did they go to you first- did they think you were their soulmate?” Ran asks. 

“What? No. It was mostly a coincidence, but didn’t you hear me? It’s an exact match.”

Ran makes a face at that. “It doesn’t matter if it’s an exact match if they don’t want me.” 

“How could they not, Ran?” Shinichi argues back. “Besides, you know them.”

There’s a flash of curiosity and Ran seems reluctant to ask. “Who is it?” 

Shinichi takes a deep breath, “Kaito Kid.”

“Kid!?” And Ran’s face is both surprised and vaguely disgusted. “Not interested.”

“What, why? He’s a handsome, gentleman thief.”

“But he’s no you, Shinichi. You’re much more charming and charismatic than Kid. If he’s my soulmate then it’s no contest between the two of you.”

Shinichi is very flattered by the sentiment, because he knows it’s not true but- “He’s a potential match though. Are you sure you don’t want to try?”

Ran looks like she wants to disagree, but she pauses and thinks over her next words. He appreciates that she’s willing to think this over for him. It’ll haunt him otherwise. 

“I’ve never gotten the impression that he takes romance seriously,” Ran says, and Shinichi doesn’t disagree with the statement. “In fact, he doesn’t seem to take much seriously. I understand trying to make the best out of a bad situation, but Kid takes it a step too far. I don’t think we would get along in that sense.”

Shinichi nods along. “You’re right. I think Kid can be serious, but chooses levity over seriousness if there’s a choice between the two.” 

“Right? I wouldn’t want Kid to make light of soulmarks,” Ran says with a sigh. 

Shinichi agrees with her, before realizing the wording of her statement. “So if Kid took this seriously, you would consider them?” He asked. 

Ran looks away, her expression considering. “Well, he is handsome.”

“You’ve never seen his face before,” Shinichi says with an eye roll. 

“But I know he looks like you, don’t I?” Ran says with a sly grin. 

Shinichi grumbles at that and tries to hold the flush off his cheeks. Perhaps unsuccessfully, judging by Ran’s expression. Then her expression turned fond. 

“It’s fine,” she says. “I won’t begrudge someone the choice of not wanting to pursue a soulmark.” Here she gives Shinichi a look that he ignores. A person is free to ignore their mark, yes, but Shinichi knows that Ran shouldn’t. 

“But that’s not a ‘no’ to being interested in Kid?” Shinichi asks. 

Ran sighs, exasperated, but still smiling. “It’s not a ‘no’.”

“Then I should investigate them, just in case,” Shinichi adds. 

Ran starts eating again and gives him a shrug. 

That’s not a ‘no’ and pretty much a ‘go right ahead’. 

Right, he’ll have to see what the thief is like outside of heists, starting from personality and general disposition, to their interests. While marks aren't a guaranteed match, people with matching marks tended to do well with each other as long as their personalities allowed it. Kogoro-occhan and Eri-obaasan came to mind, how they purposefully made things difficult for one another. Ran and Kid are a much more reasonable match.

Could he contact the thief through texts and ask him to meet somewhere? No, past incidents have shown that Kid wouldn’t talk about much besides heists, if only to protect their identity. Then Shinichi would have to convince them in person...

“Don’t go overboard,” Ran warns. 

“I won’t,” Shinichi says. 

He won’t go overboard, but he’ll be thorough. 

\-----

The next heist proceeds like normal because there’s a jewel with a limited window of time to be in Japan. Kaito has no time to mope. As usual, he plans a flashy heist for the jewel’s unveiling day. He sends the notice to Division Two. Kaito hesitates only for a moment before delivering a private heist notice to Shinichi. 

He hopes they can put the soulmark thing behind them. It might take a few heists to convince Shinichi he’s not interested in Ran, but Kaito figures that’s the best he can do with the situation. 

Although... Now that he thinks about it, if Shinichi thinks that Kaito is Ran’s soulmate, doesn’t that mean the man is single?

Then he remembers that Shinichi tattooed Ran’s soulmark on his own wrist. That’s a big declaration and it seems likely that they are together despite not sharing soulmarks...

Kaito shakes his head. 

Later. He’ll get answers later. Maybe he’ll even get answers during the heist, but for now he has to concentrate on the show and not the blue-eyed detective he’s been mooning over. 

\-----

The show goes on without a hitch. The audience is still cheering for him when he makes his way to his exit point. Kaito is still riding high from the success of the show and the nervousness he felt earlier is gone. Besides, Shinichi hasn’t even shown up this heist, which is rare, but happens every once in a while. His absence is probably due to a case (and not because of their last meeting). 

One flip later and Kaito puts the thoughts away. It’s distracting him and he needs to pay attention to the heist. Kaito jumps up a bannister and uses the height to propel him to the balcony where he’ll glide away. 

His wings are there waiting for him, hidden away, and he hurries to them. He just wants this heist over with. Any longer and he’ll have Division Two on his heels. 

A hand clasps around his wrist and holds tight. 

Kaito reels- who is it? How did they know he’s going to be here? How did he not realize- he tugs away, but the person is strong enough that he can’t get away. He reaches for his card gun- it gets knocked away. 

“Kid, it’s me.” 

It’s- Shinichi. 

“Meitantei,” Kaito says breathlessly from surprise. His heart is still racing from the confrontation, but he stops struggling. 

The man in front of him looks like his usual self, except, determined. He hasn’t seen that expression on the detective’s face for a while during their heists. Although, it’s an expression he’s come to associate with their talk of soulmarks. 

Uh oh. 

Kaito moves slowly, but Shinichi holds fast. 

Oh boy. 

“Kid,” the man says only inches away from his face and when did Shinichi get so close to him? “Meet me outside of a heist.”

The words aren’t phrased like a request. 

“Or what?” Kaito retorts, because he’s nothing if not troublesome. 

“Please,” Shinichi pleads, and Shinichi pleading almost breaks Kaito’s resolve right then and there. The detective is staring soulfully into Kaito’s eyes and Kaito realizes that he’s going to give in. 

He mentally curses at his weakness (his feelings for the man). 

“Why?” Kaito asks. 

“Because I want to get to know you outside of heists-”

Geh- Kaito has to steel his poker face, because that almost sounded like the man is asking him out on a date. 

“-after all, you might just be Ran’s soulmate.”

Right. Hopes crushed and stomped into pieces. He really shouldn’t have thought it’s anything else. 

“I’m really not interested, meitantei,” Kaito says, even though he kinda is, he’s desperate like that, “but maybe we can discuss this another time. When the officers aren’t about to knock down the door.”

He hasn’t been close to being caught in a while and he doesn’t want to start now. With Hakuba not interested anymore (more likely he has a gag order from Aoko) and Shinichi no longer seriously trying to put him behind bars, there’s very little that can surprise him. Oh, he allows Nakamori-keibu to get close when he comes up with something clever, but it’s rare. But he hadn’t been expecting Shinichi to  _ hold him down _ . Kaito thinks he can hear Nakamori-keibu yelling his name already. 

Shinichi’s face twists in displeasure. Then he lets go and Kaito almost falls over from the abruptness of the action. 

“I don’t want to force you, Kid,” Shinichi says, his voice low. The detective shifts and his hair covers his eyes. “But I’m determined to get to know you better.” 

Ugh, that is just unfair. The man can’t just brute force his way through every situation with sincerity, it isn’t right. (Kaito can feel himself wavering.) 

“We can even meet in disguise,” Shinichi adds. “I just want a chance with you.”

Before Kid can react to that statement, someone yells: 

“KIIIIID!!!” 

And that’s Nakamori-keibu. 

“Go,” Shinichi says, and Kaito doesn’t hesitate to launch his glider and leave before he’s caught. 

He definitely does not circle back, and does not look at the detective when flying away (although he really wants to). 

Instead, he stares at the text he receives later into the night from the detective. 

All it says is:

_ Think about it _ .

\-----

Kaito thinks about it all night and then the next few days and nights. 

Shinichi doesn’t message him anymore. 

Thoughts and worries swirl around in his head, but after a while his desire to meet up with Shinichi overrides his caution. He may never get a chance like this again, being able to be- normal with the detective (or at least as normal as possible). It’s the perfect situation honestly, getting to spend time with Shinichi, being able to get to know the detective and being learned in turn, all without having to give up his identity 

Kaito’s going into this with his eyes wide open and his heart guarded. 

It’ll be fine. 

\-----

A few texts later, Kaito gets an itinerary (really? Kaito wonders if Shinichi does this for all of his ‘dates’) for their first ‘meeting’. 

In reality, Kaito is grateful to know what to expect and wonders if Shinichi did it on purpose to reassure him of his intentions. 

But when he actually looks at what’s planned: shopping, lunch, a walk around Shibuya and trendy shops, Kaito realizes that this isn’t a date with Kid or the detective in mind, but one with Mori Ran in mind. Shinichi is serious about going about this for Ran. He’s probably testing to see if Kaito is a good match. 

Well, if that’s how the detective is going to play it...

\-----

“What’s a mystery otaku like  _ you _ doing here?” 

Shinichi turns around (he looks good, in a casual polo and form-fitting pants) gets a good look, and rolls his eyes. He sidles closer. “What are you doing dressed as Sonoko?” He asks, under his breath. 

Kaito thinks about arguing, playing dumb, but Shinichi gives him a pointed look. Kaito snaps and makes a ‘che’ sound (all within Suzuki Sonoko’s personality). 

“What gave it away?” Kaito asks, even as he’s subtly changing his look (adjusts the hair, different clothes, changes the make-up, changes the expression and body language) so he doesn’t quite look like the heiress. 

Kaito is sure he looks and sounds exactly like the woman. He had even checked to make sure that she didn’t have any public plans that could interfere with his disguise. 

Shinichi shakes his head. 

“What?” Kaito asks again, his voice still girlish, but not exactly like Suzuki’s. 

Shinichi gives Kaito a wry smile, then taps his left wrist. “Sonoko also has Ran’s matching soulmark.”

Kaito can’t help but balk at that and Shinichi smirks at him. He REALLY needed to do his research before getting the tattoo. Now he shares a mark with Suzuki Sonoko as well? 

Shinichi gives him a gentle pat on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell Sonoko.” 

“Yeah, that’s a good idea.” 

Oof, Kaito will have to think about that whenever he dresses up as the three now that he has the mark. 

“More like Makoto will kill you for real this time,” Shinichi adds. “Sonoko has his mark now too.” 

“What? Where? Actually, you know what, I don’t want to know,” Kaito says with a shake of his head. The less he knows the better. He knows that the two are engaged, but hadn’t realized that things were so serious. 

“Maybe you can ask them yourself,” Shinichi suggests lightly. 

Wha- oh, the man meant it if he started to go out with Ran. (Not Shinichi.)

“Maybe,” Kaito echoes. 

“In the meantime, will you be okay walking in those shoes?” Shinichi asks, the perfect gentleman. 

“Yes. Don’t worry about it, meitantei,” Kaito says with a flip of his hair. 

The detective winces at the title. “I know I’m not as famous as I used to be, but I still don’t feel up to being recognized. You can call me Shinichi.” 

Kaito’s heart skips a beat, but he keeps his expression smooth. Teasing even. “Okay, Shinichi-kun,” he says with exaggerated cuteness and wonders if he should take advantage of the situation. Kaito is never going to get a chance like this again so he might as well. Kaito playfully grabs Shinichi’s arm and leans into it like a lovestruck girl. He even bats his lashes. 

Shinichi’s eyes slide down his form before fighting themselves. “Barou, what do you think you’re doing?” He asks, his cheeks red. 

Kaito has to fight his own blush at the reaction. “This is a date, isn’t it?” 

“Yes-“ and here Kaito’s eyes almost widen in surprise, “-it's a date to see if you’re compatible with Ran. But it doesn’t mean you have to be Ran in this scenario.” 

Kaito tamps down the disappointment at the reminder. “Well, maybe instead of being Ran’s boyfriend I can be her girlfriend,” Kaito says airily, as if the words don’t hurt to say. 

Shinichi snorts. “Okay. Fine, that works. I’ll try not to judge anymore.”

“That’s what I thought, Shinichi-kun.” He says the words haughtily, as if he isn’t using the chance just to say the man’s name. The thrill of saying his name, the arm-holding, their closeness, the banter, it’s almost too much for Kaito. He tries not to let a grin spread across his face. This is fun. 

“Oi, if you’re going to use my name so often I need one for you too,” Shinichi says, gently nudging him. “I can’t keep calling you Kid all the time, can I?”

Should he-? No. 

“Why not?” Kaito asks. 

“Because that isn’t a real name and it might be obvious if Kudo Shinichi calls someone Kid in public,” Shinichi says. 

“Let’s see, I feel like I could have a really cute name today, like Aki-chan, or Yuiko,” Kaito muses. He hasn’t really had to act cutesy for a role before (one that isn’t based on someone) so this could be fun. 

“I am definitely not calling you anything like that. What about something to do with your number identifier?”

“No way. You make it sound like that isn’t suspicious too. It also isn’t very cute.”

“Then I’ll just call you Kaito,” Shinichi says with a shake of his head. 

“Really?” Kaito asks, his heart starting to race. Shinichi! Calling him by his first name for their dates!” “That sounds rather uninspired,” Kaito says, trying to pay it cool. 

“Kaito can be a cute name,” Shinichi says. “Besides, it suits you.” 

Kaito lets out a soft huff, which is really a disguised awkward laugh of happiness. “Well, I guess it works if you don’t want to change my name everytime we meet.” He sure hopes Shinichi won’t now. 

“Yeah. Let’s just stick with Kaito, Kaito,” Shinichi says rolling his eyes. “Now come on. If we don’t start now, we’ll mess up my itinerary.”

Kaito pokes his cheek and continues teasing, even though he’s genuinely smiling inside. They continue walking, Kaito still hanging on Shinichi’s arm. The other man leads and Kaito can’t help but imagine himself without the disguise. It wouldn’t be too different, Kaito teasing the detective, while Shinichi rolls his eyes. 

“Oh, I forgot,” Shinichi says, pausing. Before Kaito can ask what’s wrong (is the teasing/flirting too much?), Shinichi pulls out a flower and tucks it into Kaito’s hair (wig). 

“O-oh?” Kaito lets out a stammer before he can pull himself together. “And what’s this for?” He quickly adds. 

He didn’t get a good look at it, but he thought he caught a glimpse of a pretty flower with bright orange petals. Luckily it matches his outfit and complexion with this disguise. 

Giving him flowers on a date? That’s smooth (damn, charming detective), but then Kaito realizes that there’s no good reason to give Kaito a flower. This isn't a real date.

“No reason,” Shinichi says, but something in his expression says that the flower does mean something. 

Kaito narrows his eyes. “...It’s so you can identify it’s me, isn’t it?” He asks flatly. 

“Or maybe it’s because I thought it would look nice,” Shinichi replies. 

“Of course, tantei-kun,” Kaito says, mockingly using the nickname he hasn’t used in months now. 

(He keeps the flower on him for the rest of the date.)

\-----

Despite Kaito’s initial doubts, the date is fun. They do indeed go shopping and walking in Shibuya. They also act like a normal couple: pointing out things that would look good on each other and going into stores to browse. Kaito even tries on (woman’s) clothes for his own amusement. He continues to do it throughout their date just to see Shinichi’s reactions, which range from embarrassed to worried that Kaito’s disguise will be discovered. (It’s cute, both his facial expressions and the fact that he thinks Kaito will get caught.) 

Shinichi, the gentleman that he is, even buys Kaito an accessory in the form of a hair clip. (Although, Shinichi does complain while buying it that Kaito will probably just use it for nefarious purposes like for a disguise. Kaito doesn’t disagree, letting the detective believe his theory. For now though, Kaito thinks he might only wear it when they’re together or in the privacy of his own home. After all, it’s a gift from the detective.)

All in all, everything feels like a normal date. 

Except for their less than normal conversation topics. Sure they talk about the weather, the shops, and things that are trending, but they also talk about subjects that are more common to a thief and detective. Shinichi knowing Kaito’s identity loosens Kaito’s tongue and he can’t help but point out would-be-pickpockets, people with thick make-up that looks totally natural, and make off-handed comments about things that remind him of heists. At first, Shinichi rolls his eyes at the comments, but soon he’s adding in his own commentary. He takes apart Kaito’s talk about heists, makes deductions of his own, and goes to save would-be victims from the pickpockets. 

At lunch they end up making silly deductions about the people around them. Kaito isn’t as skilled as Shinichi, but even he can predict when a fight is going to happen, or when a person isn’t into their date. (And he loves the fact that each deduction involved leaving in close to whisper softly into each other’s ears.) 

Kaito is snickering when he accurately predicts that a man will spill an expensive glass of wine over his pants (the man deserves it, treating the staff and his date badly, acting like a pompous windbag that knew something about wine, he wasn’t even holding the glass correctly-) when Shinichi sighs. 

“Something the matter, Shinichi?” Kaito asks before he can stop himself. Oops. It’s the first time today he’s called the man by his first name without an honorific. 

Shinichi takes a slow look around before looking back at Kaito. “Ah, it’s nothing.” 

Kaito raises an eyebrow. “Nothing? I feel like with your reaction I should be ducking under the table right now. Is there a murder about to happen?”

Shinichi makes a face at that. “I hope not, but it’s just- been awhile since I’ve been able to do a regular deduction. Something simple.” 

“Kid heists not good enough for you?” Kaito says, dryly. 

“A heist is different from a mystery, though.” Shinichi shrugs. “But between working with the police, the FBI, and the Japanese Secret Police, there aren’t a lot of mysteries that I solve that don’t involve people getting hurt.” 

Shinichi finishes the statement quietly, almost sadly. Kaito wants to wipe that expression away. 

“Maybe you should meet up with the kids again. They always cheered you up,” Kaito suggests. Then adds, “Should I invite them to a heist again? This time maybe I’ll see if they can tell the difference between us-“ 

“Do  _ not _ do that,” Shinichi says firmly, but he’s smiling again, so Kaito counts it as a win. “I already had enough trouble explaining how you’ve impersonated me all those times before. At this rate they’ll think Kaito Kid and Kudo Shinichi are the same person.” 

Kaito snickers.

“Besides, I like how the heists are now. It’s a challenge between us, no one else,” Shinichi adds.

Kaito holds back a smile. Yeah, he likes it that way too. 

\-----

Out of respect to Kaito’s identity, at the end of their date they separate on a crowded street. Kaito thinks about changing outfits immediately after- to make sure the detective isn’t following or maybe so he can follow the detective- when he touches the flower in his hair. 

Kaito decides to head home, the flower hidden inside a pocket. 

Once he’s home, Kaito puts the disguise away. 

He hesitates on what to do with the flower. 

He could save it, put it in a vase. Maybe press it as a keepsake. Or let it dry out on his desk, so he could stare at it helplessly until it turned into dust. 

The third option is probably the worst one for Kaito so of course that’s what he does. 

The flower sits there innocently as Kaito starts to freak out about its meaning. Maybe it has no meaning, it’s a common enough flower (a gerbera daisy, easily found in flower shops), but what if it  _ does _ have a meaning that Kaito isn’t picking up? Eventually he goes to bed, eyes turned towards his desk. Maybe he’s imagining things, but even at night he can pick up the orange from the flower’s bright petals. 

The flower taunting him he’s sure of it. 

(Or maybe that’s the lack of sleep talking.)

He falls asleep wondering what the hell he’s doing with Shinichi, why he’s continuing this charade, and convinced that it’s all going to fall to pieces in the near future. 

But even with his doubts, he doesn’t convince himself to stop. 

\-----

He gets a text the next day asking about his availability. 

Kaito texts Shinichi a vague schedule, both to obfuscate his schedule and to make it look like he’s not desperate.

Shinichi immediately sets up another ‘date’. 

\-----

Shinichi sends him an itinerary for each meeting and Kaito dresses accordingly each time, always female presenting. Shinichi rolls his eyes, but allows Kaito to hang off him and gives him a flower for every meeting, each flower bright and eye-catching. 

They continue to do ‘dates’ that are in Ran’s taste, going to trendy areas, eating in nice restaurants, and exploring different spots together. They have their fun as a detective and a thief, but Kaito also just.. enjoys their time together. He hasn’t really connected with anyone in university and with Aoko gone from his life, no one drags him out to do anything normal anymore. Guiltily, Kato even thinks he’s having more fun with Shinichi than he ever did with Aoko because Shinichi knows who Kaito is. 

Plus, it’s nice.. being treated like something precious. Maybe it’s just because Kaito is dressed like a woman, but Shinichi is an utter gentleman. He unconsciously moves to guard Kaito’s blind spots, offers his arm, and often gives Kaito first pick for everything. 

If Kaito thought he could get away with it, he would swoon. 

(But that would be pushing it.) 

\-----

The first chance Shinichi gets, he makes a lunch date with Ran explicitly for the purpose of giving his first report on Kid. When he explains his reasoning, he can practically hear Ran roll her eyes through the phone. But after checking her schedule, she agrees. They meet at a cat cafe that has no patrons and very little chance of being overheard. 

“Maybe we should bring my mom here,” Ran says, petting an enthusiastic tabby that snuggles up to her. 

“Oh, that would be a good idea,” Shinichi agrees as he pets his own cat. This one is a black and fluffy cat that took a liking to him the last time he came. Her fur is incredibly soft and his hand sinks in. 

Ran giggles and Shinichi’s glad she’s having fun. (He should have planned out more trendy dates for them when they had been dating.) 

“How did you find this place?” Ran asks, absently. 

“While I was walking with Kid, we happened to find it.” 

Ran makes a sound of understanding. “And how goes dating Kaito Kid?” 

Shinichi rolls his eyes. It’s something she’s been teasing him about, ever since he told her about his meetings with the thief. “They’re going well,” he says, not rising to the bait. 

Then he gives her a full report of what he’s found so far, including: the fact that Kid is playful and fun, Kid is outgoing, and Kid is willing to go along with other people’s plans. (Everything Shinichi is not.) He includes his thoughts on the thief and their various tastes and makes a preliminary report that he thinks the two would be a good match. 

“You..” Ran considers her words, “seem to enjoy Kid’s company.”

“I suppose so,” Shinichi says. “I always knew that Kid wasn’t a bad person, but they’re not bad company either.” 

Ran nods. (In interest? Is she now becoming more interested in the thief?)

“Will you be going on more outings with them?” She asks. 

“Do you want me to?” Is he going too far with his investigation? 

Ran looks at him. “No, keep going out with them. And let me know when you do.”

Ah, so maybe she did want to know more. “Okay.”

So Shinichi plans more outings with the thief. 

\-----

Kaito notices a shift in their dates. They still have normal dates (movies, food, walks, etc), but now there’s an addition of other more personalized activities. 

Now every time they pass a supernatural or magical shop, Shinichi steps in. The detective doesn’t believe in the supernatural (Kaito has a healthy respect from Akako), but he seems to purposefully seek them out. Though he ends up snarking the whole time, quietly of course, and only to Kaito. 

They also go see martial art events. The first time that Shinichi invites him to an event, they actually go see Kyogoku go fight in a tournament (the man wins of course). Thankfully, they don’t go near him or Suzuki who is cheering him on loudly. Shinichi is mildly interested, taking apart Kyogoku’s fighting style and his opponent’s. Kaito finds out later that Ran was supposed to come, but couldn’t make it. 

And if it isn’t more obvious that Shinichi is trying to see if Kaito likes more Ran-specific dates, they also do anything mildly romantic. Couples meals, sticker booths, even memorably a couples trivia event (that they both crush). 

Kaito would have been annoyed at Shinichi for reminding him of Ran with every date (and annoyed at himself for knowing what Mori’s tastes are) if it wasn’t the most torturous yet happiest time of his life. (He almost dies when they share a drink with two straws. Kaito was only able to take a few sips before he felt guilty for sharing the drink.)

It’s good though. The reminder of Mori Ran only helps Kaito remember that Shinichi doesn't actually want Kaito (ouch). But at the same time, Kaito is falling for the man more, because he’s not even trying to impress Kaito with these dates and yet he’s still impressing Kaito with how amazing and romantic he is. 

It’s a conundrum. 

But he figures that the dates must surely come to an end soon, right? They’re starting to run out of things to do. Even with a few of their dates interrupted by the occasional mystery. Shinichi is either going to make a decision of Kaito’s datibility, or demand he make a move. The only reason why they’ve been able to keep this up for so long is because the both of them are busy and space out their dates. 

God, Kaito doesn’t know what to do when that happens. 

For now, he’ll milk the situation for as long as possible. 

So of course he’s not prepared for the conversation that Shinichi brings up next.

\-----

“You want me to do what?”

“Plan a date,” Shinichi says, like it’s nothing. 

Kaito stares. They’re at a really romantic spot in a park with good atmosphere, walking and enjoying each other’s company. Or at least, Kaito is. Shinichi might have just come up to this spot naturally without thinking about it. 

“So far, we’ve been doing activities that I know Ran likes, but I want to know what you consider a good time too. Why don’t you plan the next outing?” Shinichi explains. 

Slowly, Kaito nods. 

Okay, that makes sense (although, ouch, the mention that Shinichi is doing this for Ran always hurts). 

Shinichi nods too. “Let me know when you’re free next.”

The thought of another date always cheers Kaito up, leaving him in a good mood until he realizes that this means he’s now responsible for their next date. Kaito has to plan a date meant for Mori Ran, without revealing too much of his tastes as Kuroba Kaito, but enjoyable enough for Shinichi so that the man would want to continue their dates. 

This is going to end in disaster. 

\-----

“Yo, Kudo!” 

Shinichi looks up from his phone to see- “Hattori? What are you doing here?” 

The man gives him a mischievous grin. “I may or may not have a case in the area,” the man says.

Hattori has been rather silent lately over the phone. Shinichi thought it was because of a case…

Shinichi takes another look at the man. Heiji looks good today. He always does (a combination of his good looks and Kazuha picking the man’s wardrobe), but today he looks even more cleaned up than normal, even with the ballcap. 

Shinichi makes a face. “Kaito, you really shouldn’t dress up as people we know.” 

Kid makes a face of amusement, before dropping the Kansai accent. “How did you know it was me?” 

“I think I can always tell if it’s you.”  _ If you’re dressed as one of my friends _ , Shinichi doesn’t say. Any person he’s been around long enough he has memorized enough to be able to tell if they’re off. Doubly so, if they’re one of Shinichi’s close friends. 

To be fair, Shinichi has also started to count Kid as part of that group. Even though he hasn’t seen the thief’s true face, he has gotten better and better at telling when the person in front of him is Kid. 

Kid scratches his face, looking embarrassed. “Aw, you’ll give me a big head if you give me so much attention, meitantei.” 

Shinichi makes a face again. Even knowing that the man in front of him is not Hattori Heiji, Shinichi can’t reconcile the fact that Heiji’s face is not speaking Kansai-ben. “Could you please change?” 

Kid complies easily, disappearing into the crowd, only to appear as another man. They are clearly using Heiji as a base, the dark skin and similar facial structure, but have adjusted their clothes to something a little more formal (Heiji only wears clothes that are formal under duress), have changed their hair to match the clothing style, and have morphed their body language. It’s like a different person. (Well, it is a different person.) 

“How’s this?” Kid asks. Now there’s no dissonance between the accent and the face. Kid has completely changed his voice so it’s deeper, more formal, and suits his adopted look. 

“Better, thanks,” Shinichi says, and wonders where they’re going that’s going to need such a formal personality. 

Although, formal doesn’t mean not-playful, because a moment later Kid offers him their arm. 

He blinks and realizes it’s a turnaround from when Kid has been dressing as a woman. So now he’s playing Ran’s part? Shinichi slips his arm around the others, playing the role. He rolls his eyes when he sees Kid’s grinning. 

The bright yellow flower Shinichi hands over suits Kaito’s grin even though it doesn’t quite match his outfit. 

Their ‘date’ seems very normal until Kid leads them to a.. very cutesy parfait shop (with limited edition character motifs). 

The two of them draw quite a bit of attention inside. (They’re way off the demographic, the both of them male-presenting, in rather formal clothes, although they’re about the right age, but most people in the shop are young women and students). Although Kid looks unashamed and peruses the menu intently while Shinichi tries to do the same. It’s a sweets shop so he’s having trouble finding anything that will suit his tastes. 

“You should get the lemon ricotta pancakes,” Kid says. 

They have their menu turned so that Shinichi can see it and he scans the ingredients. 

“The pancakes are plain and less sweetened, but they have toppings that do add sweetness, like the lemon syrup and the candied lemons which can be placed at the side so you can add them later,” they point out. 

It’s a sound plan and Shinichi goes along with Kid’s suggestions. 

When their orders come in, Kid has gotten a monstrosity of chocolate parfait in the shape of a sad cat (one of the stars of the show) while Shinichi’s pancakes are styled as an angry chicken. Thankfully, most of the toppings are on the side and though he isn’t a big fan of pancakes, it’s a change and he’s happy to try them. All of the sweet items that come with it, Shinichi slides onto one pancake for Kid to eat, who does so happily. 

Then they go shopping and like before Shinichi decides that if he’s going to be dressing more as a man, he can have a matching accessory. This time, Shinichi picks out a simple, but bright red, dyed leather bracelet for the thief. Kid smirks at him, knowingly, but slides it onto their left wrist. 

His wrist is blank, Shinichi realizes, the mark covered up. It’s a little jarring even though the thief has had the mark covered up except for the few times he’s seen it. (There’s an idle thought that comes to mind that he wants to see the red against the brilliant blue mark.)

It’s a thought that follows him when Kid continues to wear the bracelet in their future meetings. 

\-----

Taking someone out, as opposed to being taken out, is an interesting experience for Kaito. The differences are minute, but enjoyable. Like dressing up as a man. 

Although he doesn’t not-like dressing as a woman, disguised as a man he’s a lot closer to the image of how he normally would dress. And Shinichi seems to have no problems having their dates with him dressed this way, so he continues to dress as a guy each time. (He wears the bracelet too, retiring the hair clip although he wears it happily to school and at home.) 

He’s having fun and indulges himself with their dates. (Offering his arm is possibly the best idea he’s had this year.)

At first Kaito tries to keep things casual, nothing too telling of his personality. Normal dates, although he indulges himself with the emphasis of places with good sweets. (Secretly, he does look up places that have menu items Shinichi would like.) 

But it isn’t long before Shinichi realizes what Kaito is doing and dares him to do more, so Kaito ups the ante. 

The next activity that Kaito plans are visits to museums and art collections. Most of them don’t feature any jewels, but Kaito has fun making jests about how to steal the displays anyway. Surprisingly, Shinichi doesn’t get frustrated or angry, but constructs ways to stop him, or even ways to do it better. 

Kaito looks forward to the next dates where they go to small local museums or modern art displays. He almost snorts part of his disguise up his nose when Shinichi jokes that he should rob the display because the art piece being shown is so pretentious. 

Later, Kaito, may or may not have ‘replaced’ the art piece as a result and caused an artist to get very angry over the fact that no one could recognize trash versus their art.

When he and Shinichi meet next, Shinichi just smirks at him and pointedly mentions the article. 

Kaito plays innocent, even though he’s secretly thrilled with Shinichi’s amusement. 

The incident makes Kaito reconsider another date idea and when he sees Jody Hopper in town, he immediately makes a reservation for two. He keeps the date a secret until they’re standing in front of the building where the billing for the magic show is on the front of the door. Shinichi laughs and smacks the arm that he’s holding, but goes in with his eyes wide with delight. 

The show that night is masterful, but Kaito misses a good portion of it, instead using his time to stare at Shinichi’s expressions and reactions. The man is a great audience member and unlike with his heists, he doesn’t try to deconstruct the show. He saves that for later when the night is getting late and the two of them are discussing the show under the lights of a convenience store, alone, but for the people working at the store. 

It’s dangerous for Kaito. They don’t usually have late nights like this on their dates. The atmosphere is special, like their heists and Kaito has to remind himself not to stare too much. He loves seeing Shinichi at night, his eyes sparkling, his pale skin highlighted by the moonlight and street signs. At night, Shinichi also tends to drop his polite neutral mask, the one he wears during mysteries (especially murders). His expressions go to the extremes, cold and calculating to unabashedly soft. 

But Kaito Kid is no novice to walking the knife’s edge of danger and he plans more nights out between them. 

When the good (and bad) magic shows start to dry up, Kaito takes the danger a step further:

He invites the man out to listen to music. 

Although Kaito loves the latest and greatest hits, he has a soft spot for classical and jazz, not to mention he loves performances in general. He likes to steal techniques for captivating crowds from those with the mastery of it. 

When the two of them end up eating together in a dark restaurant, a jazz band in the corner, Shinichi leans in to whisper in Kaito’s ear. 

“A fan of jazz?” He asks, amusement in his eyes. “No, not just that. You’re a fan of the performers.”

Right in one, and the thought of being so easily seen-through makes Kaito’s heart quicken. though Kaito doesn’t allow anything but his poker face show as he politely smiles. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Shinichi,” he replies back softly. 

“That’s a little personal isn’t it? If you’re not careful, Kaito, I’ll be able to put together who you are,” Shinichi murmurs. 

Somehow the thought doesn’t fill him with dread, but just nervousness from Shinichi knowing more about him. “You can try, Shinichi,” Kaito says back. 

That seems to satisfy the detective and he sits back. Though he still stays close enough that he can whisper into Kaito’s ear about the performance. Not unexpectedly, the man is well-versed in jazz and they chat about the songs in between bites of their meal. 

Kaito is glad for the detective’s encyclopedic knowledge and even encourages him to talk about everything he knows of the genre because he’s half out of his mind, distracted by the detective’s close presence. The two of them are sitting side by side in a plush booth, but their combined weight makes them sink towards the middle so that their legs and elbows often bump into each other. Kaito often has to hold himself back so he doesn’t purposefully move so that they’re touching. 

There are other shows like that one and each time Kaito has to do his best to concentrate on the performance and not the detective. However, music performances tend not to be a big enough draw for his attention and the music ends up acting as a backdrop to their dates where Kaito can give most of his attention to Shinichi. 

It’s torture of the sweetest type. Kaito is so close to the object of his affection, spending hours with him in intimate settings, without a chance of anything coming about it. If he was a weaker man, he might have broken from the torment. 

Instead, Kaito continues to invite Shinichi out on more dates. 

\------

“..So the cafes and shows were a bit of a surprise, but I think you’ll enjoy going to them. Kid has good tastes, tastes that are similar to yours. They also love going out, so I think they’ll treat you right. What do you think, Ran?”

Ran gives him a considering look. 

“I trust your judgement, Shinichi,” she says, slowly. “How many times have you been out with him now?”

He shrugs. “We’re likely in the triple digits now.” 

“That’s a lot of dates- data.” 

“It is. I feel like I’ve built a comprehensive profile on them.”

Ran gives him a long look. 

“Feel free to continue doing so,” she says, after a moment. 

Shinichi nods. “Of course,” he says. He’ll continue his investigation until Ran makes her choice. 

“Did you want to hear about my meetings with the others?” She asks, and he nods again. 

\-----

Two steps forward and one step back, that’s what Kaito feels like is the motto in his life. 

He has gotten closer to Shinichi with their dates, but a rash of cases causes the detective to cancel them until further notice. Kaito tries to put off his heists too, but some opportunities prove to be impossible to pass up and he’s forced to continue them even though he knows Shinichi will be unable to join him. There’s near radio silence from the detective and although Kaito knows it’s not his fault, it feels like a failure on his part. 

Kaito tries to keep Shinichi updated and is relieved when the detective finally starts messaging him back tired apologies. 

A tension in his back (one he didn’t even know he had) loosens when he receives that first apology and they keep a steady stream of conversation after that. Kaito eagerly awaits the day when they can interact in person again. 

Later, Shinichi surprises him during a heist, attempting to snatch the jewel from Kaito’s grasp. Only Kaito’s quick reflexes have him dodging the grab. 

“Sorry I had to cancel our last few meetings,” Shinichi says, as he tries to grab the jewel again. 

Kaito spins away, but in the opposite direction of his exit. Shoot. “It’s fine, meitantei. I understand. Duty calls.” He feints to the left and then to the right. The detective doesn’t fall for either of them. The detective looks tired (bags under his eyes, a little too pale and thin), but he’s smiling and looking like he’s having fun. (Kaito’s having fun too.) It’s good to see him again, even if he is trying to stop Kaito from a successful heist. 

“I thought we were on the same side,” Kaito muses aloud. He has a head start on the Kid Task Squad, but being delayed will put himself at a disadvantage. 

“It’s just been so long,” Shinichi says. He’s fighting a grin and his eyes are bright, despite the deep bags under his eyes. “With so many cases, maybe I just wanted to prove my deductive abilities on a heist.”

It’s said like a joke, but there’s a hint of truth to Shinichi’s words. Clearly the cases have been taking a toll on him. Kaito knows what that feels like. Kaito can’t fault him for wanting to take it easy and have fun on a heist. 

Kaito plays up their cat and mouse game until he’s jumping out a window to scramble up the side of the wall, making a beeline for the roof. Kaito can hear Shinichi cursing in hot pursuit. He has to be quick. His glider isn’t actually on his person today (a mistake, he wasn’t expecting opposition) and having the detective reach it first will more easily crown him the winner. 

When he arrives on the roof, it looks empty and quiet, his glider is innocently sitting in the open. Kaito is almost tempted to slow down to wait for the detective, but a win is a win. He’ll have to just tease the detective for his slowness in their next meeting. Scurrying across the roof, Kaito checks the jewel (not Pandora) and goes to ready the glider. 

There’s a swish of fabric behind him. 

Kaito dodges what he assumes is a grab from Shinichi. He turns around and smirks. 

“Nice try.”

But instead of the sight of a detective with a quip and a soccer ball, Kaito is treated to the sight of Shinichi running away with his glider. 

“Hey!” 

He scrambles behind him, but the other man is moving too quickly. His glider gets dumped into what looks like a storage closet, which the man then locks. 

Kaito stops his chase and looks on in bewilderment. Is that supposed to stop him? Maybe the detective wanted to be chased some more? More importantly, where did that storage closet come from? 

The detective gives him a cocky smile.

“Oh no,” the man says, still smiling, “You can’t escape with your glider. Whatever will Kaito Kid, the great thief do to escape? Oh wait, will he disguise himself as an officer to leave the building unscathed?”

Kaito glares, because of course that’s a  _ possible  _ thing he could do (but not in a predictable way, in a flexible way). If need be he  _ can _ disguise himself as an officer. It’s usually the easier option than outrunning the officers, especially when he already has a disguise ready. But he can’t do it in front of Shinichi, he might as well not have a disguise if the detective knows which officer Kaito is beforehand. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll give you a head start,” the detective says then leaves. 

…

That’s surprisingly polite for the man. More likely the man wanted a better challenge. Although the detective should have planned for Kaito to just pick the lock of the storage closet. 

BANG!

“KIDDDD!” Nakamori-keibu yells. 

His heart seizes in his throat and Kaito throws himself to the side of the shed before the inspector can see him. The roof starts to flood with officers and Kaito mentally curses. Okay, Plan B, he has to disguise himself. It will be easy to bypass the task force, but he also has to dodge Shinichi. (Damn, the detective must have timed this.) 

He’s really not in the mood to be dog-piled today, so hopefully he won’t be confronted by the detective until after he’s lost the officers. Kaito allows himself one final sigh of annoyance before pulling himself together. 

Kaito changes. The officer he’s picked is young and new and utterly forgettable. He easily slips into the crowd and heads down the rooftop. He circles the building, pretending to be on the lookout for Kid (although he’s actually on the lookout for his detective), but he eventually reaches an exit. There’s a back alley that shouldn’t be very occupied and leads to a building that he can escape through. 

“Where do you think you’re going, officer?” 

Kaito almost jumps out of his disguise. He doesn’t though and he looks over to the person waiting for him in the alleyway. It’s Shinichi, of course. 

“Ah, Kudo-kun, patrolling? I happen to be doing the same.” The excuse falls out of his mouth easy enough. 

Shinichi smirks. “Nice try, Kid. Now how about you follow me out?” 

Kaito does so, although he figures he can slip away later. He follows him out of the alleyway, the two of them easily bypassing the patrolling officers. They’re away from the building when Kaito thinks about stepping away, but Shinichi stops him. He internally winces. Things are never that easy, huh?

“Are you free right now?” Shinichi asks. 

Eh? 

Kaito meets Shinichi’s eyes. 

“We haven’t met up in awhile. Let’s catch up?” Shinichi’s smiling at him. Not a mischievous smile, but a tired one. Yet it’s small and warm and makes Kaito feel warm as well once he realizes what Shinichi’s asking him for. An impromptu date. 

“Yeah, sure,” Kaito immediately agrees. 

“In that case, do you want to change? I don’t think I want to get caught having coffee with a married officer,” he says, dryly. 

Oh, right. 

Kaito changes so he no longer looks exactly like the officer he disguised himself as. Then they’re walking shoulder to shoulder and catching up with one another. They walk around, trying to find someplace that’s open and end up at the convenience store. Shinichi buys himself coffee and Kaito buys himself a snack and they end up walking and talking. 

Kaito talks about the heists Shinichi has missed. (Otherwise, he doesn’t really have a life outside of being Kid or spending time with Shinichi.) Shinichi tells him a little bit about the cases he’s been working with and updates him about Ran. Thankfully, it’s an update on everyone (Suzuki, Kyogaku, Hattori, and Toyama), not just Mori Ran. 

He’s enjoying himself. The meetings before weren’t bad, but they were like a production. A little bit performative for him. This feels more casual, like he can be himself. 

It becomes a habit for the two of them, to meet after a heist and just talk and hang out. They end up walking and finding places that are open late: bars, cafes and restaurants. Although secretly Kaito enjoys the days where they walk around alone. 

\-----

“I don’t think this is going to work,” Shinichi says, eyeing him up and down. 

Kaito winces and agrees with the assessment. The disguise he’s in isn’t very acceptable for a date, at least not one with Shinichi. Normally he dresses as an officer and all of the Kid Task Squad are young and fit, no older than their fifties (they have to be, to be running after Kaito Kid). However, today he couldn’t pass up the advantages of being disguised as the curator of the museum. A balding man in his 80’s. There’s not much he can do to de-age the disguise. 

“Do you have any other disguises?” Shinichi asks. 

Kaito doesn’t, not really, but he’s not going to turn down a date if he can help it. 

“Why all you had to do was ask, meitantei,” Kaito says confidently. He quick-changes into…

Shinichi balks, “No, I’m not going out with myself. That’s- no.” 

Kaito feels a flash of hurt at the statement. His ‘Kudo Shinichi’ disguise is tried and true, because they look so much alike that he can always pull on the disguise as long as he has the right clothes to go with it. An insult to this disguise is like an insult to Kaito’s looks, although he’s reasonably sure that the man doesn’t mean anything by it. But if it’s not this, then he’s out of disguises. 

“You can adjust this look, right? I mean I’ve seen you do it before when you’ve dressed as Sonoko and Heiji,” Shinichi says. 

Kaito blinks. “Sure, I’ll give it a try.” 

Kaito thinks hard on the look he wants to go for. It’s different from using Suzuki and Hattori’s appearance. All he had to do was go in the opposite direction of their style to create a completely different person. With Shinichi as his base, he has to be careful not to go too close to his own appearance. 

Kaito pauses. 

He makes the decision before he can talk himself out of it. His appearance changes in a puff of smoke: hair tousled, eyes a different color, his outfit less prim and more playful, and a grin on his face. 

“How’s this, meitantei?” Kaito asks cheekily, in his own voice. 

Internally, he’s sweating. This is such a dumb idea, looking like himself. It’ll only take one person to recognize him and his identity as Kaito Kid will get out. Is it worth the risk to go on a date with Shinichi looking like himself? 

But he can’t take it back because he’s frozen under Shinichi’s gaze. The man runs his eyes slowly up and down his frame. He has to stop his body from reacting to the rush of heat from the action. Being stared at isn’t unusual, the detective normally inspects all of his disguises. 

But this isn’t a disguise, this is Kaito. He feels- naked. Seen. And he has to admit he’s slightly aroused, garnering so much attention from the object of his affection.

Shinichi smiles, satisfied after his thorough inspection. “You look good,” he says, casually, as if he isn’t  _ blowing Kaito’s mind with the compliment _ . “Shall we go?” 

“Lead the way.” Kaito allows his Kid persona to take over as he falls in line with Shinichi. 

The man offers his arm and Kaito only manages to take the arm naturally after months of practiced ease. 

“This is the first time we’ve been the same height for awhile,” Shinichi says, his eyes crinkled in amusement. 

“Feeling inadequate?” Kaito shoots back. 

And they’re bantering back and forth, while Kaito is absolutely freaking out inside. It’s happening. It’s really happening. He’s going on a date with Shinichi as (Kuroba) Kaito. 

They don’t do anything very different, just eat and spend time with each other, but it feels more real now that Kaito doesn’t have a disguise on. 

(He jumps the first time Shinichi calls him Kaito like this. It feels good. Really good.) 

And when the night ends, Kaito wonders if he can allow himself hope that maybe Shinichi likes him more than he’s letting on. 

\-----

Kaito may or may not be purposefully choosing disguises that force him to dress as himself after heists. Maybe. Sometimes. Not too often, but more often than not when it’s late in the evening and he feels like he can get away with it. (So as often as possible.) 

Oh, he still chooses unique disguises when they go out outside of heists, but after heist-dates feel like the perfect time to be himself. 

Being seen with Shinichi as himself is a thrill he can’t get enough of, almost as exciting as being Kaito Kid. And just as dangerous as being the phantom thief, to all parts of his well-being. 

But he isn’t one to run away from risks, so he forges on. 

The consequences aren’t quite real until a heist happens in Ekoda. 

Nakamori-keibu isn’t involved in this one surprisingly and when the both of them are done, they leave with some time to spare. By habit, he walks to Jii’s billiard bar and invites Shinichi in for a game. Shinichi agrees before he can take back the invitation. 

Kaito’s heartbeat quickens when Jii sees the both of them and his brows go up. It looks like he recognizes the detective, not surprisingly. (Luckily, Shinichi doesn’t recognize Jii.) The bar isn’t too full and Kaito grabs them a table with ease. 

Shinichi doesn’t look comfortable or uncomfortable in the unfamiliar setting, just neutral. In fact he orders a drink and helps set up the table as if he’s played dozens of times before. 

“Do you play a lot?” Shinichi asks, chalking his cue. 

Kaito is pleased to note that the detective looks great here. He’s not dressed too formally today, but the slightly formal clothing makes him look distinguished with the low light and warm wooden panels of the bar. 

“I dabble,” Kaito says, not giving anything away. “And you?” 

“Not much. I’ve read the rules before though, so I can fake it,” Shinichi admits. 

Kaito finds it cute. The man is so poised even though so much of his knowledge is from books. Though he’s very pleased that the man would admit such a thing to him. And he’s happy to introduce new things to the man, so to speak. 

Shinichi’s novice abilities show when they shoot for the first hit and Shinichi fumbles. Kaito manages a passable hit, a lucky shot honestly. 

“Stripes,” Kaito calls absently. It feels lucky to him (and doesn’t have anything at all to do with Shinichi’s pinstripe suit). 

“Solids,” Shinichi replies. 

He watches as Kaito bends over to take his hit and Kaito has to concentrate on the table in front of him so he doesn’t get self-conscious. (Or accidentally perform for his audience of one. That might make his feelings for the detective too obvious.) 

“It suits you,” he adds, after Kaito breaks. 

Kaito’s lining up his second shot and he has to pull back so he doesn’t foul. “Oh?” 

Kaito lines up the shot again and shoots before Shinichi can reply. He misses, but sets up Shinichi’s shot at a terrible angle. 

Shinichi walks around the table looking for a clear shot. He doesn’t reply, instead looking around for a good angle. He bends over and leans over the table for a straight shot. 

Kaito has to stop his body from following the bend of Shinichi’s back to look at his ass. He walks to the opposite side to take himself away from the temptation. 

Shinichi’s shot goes in. A clean hit. Kaito lets out a whistle. The next one goes wide though and accidentally knocks in one of Kaito’s own. 

“The game. Maybe it’s because when you’re taking a shot you’re the center of attention,” Shinichi adds. 

Kaito blinks and realizes that Shinichi is finally elaborating on what he said before. 

“Or maybe it’s because it’s a tricky game. It looks perfectly logical at first, but there are nuances that aren’t easily calculated,” Shinichi muses aloud. 

“I feel like I’m being insulted,” Kaito says, even though he’s really not. He’s actually excited, having the man’s attention on him, looking like himself, in a place where Kuroba Kaito frequents. The man is invested in him, HIM! Not Kid. 

“It’s a compliment,” Shinichi says. “You’re a complex person, Kid.” 

He murmurs the last part as he passes by and a shiver runs down Kaito’s spine. If that’s the reason why Shinichi keeps on coming back to him, even if it’s for Ran, Kaito thanks his lucky stars. 

In the end, they play five games. Kaito wins all, but one. And he can say proudly that he doesn’t even throw it. Instead Shinichi continually improves throughout the evening enough to get in a lucky win. 

The smile that the detective graces him with and the parting comment of ‘let's do this again’ keeps Kaito sky high for the rest of the week. 

\-----

“So why don’t you reach out to Kid for a date?”

Ran runs a hand through her hair. It’s just starting to grow out from when she cut it. Shinichi isn’t quite sure the reason why she did it, whether it’s because she wanted a change or so she wouldn’t be recognized as much, but the change is drastic. He can’t help but stare and memorize her new look. The shorter hair makes her look more mature, more worldly, and she’s just as beautiful as before. 

It’s hard to imagine anyone turning her down. 

“I think it’s hard for me to date anyone that’s not straightforward,” Ran says. 

Yes, it would be hard to classify dating Kaito Kid, especially without knowing their identity behind the thief, as straight-forward. (Although, Shinichi knows that he’s making headway with the thief. There’s no way they aren’t earnest during their meetings.) But that doesn’t mean Ran can’t do something about it. 

“Don’t make that face, Shinichi,” Ran gently scolds. Some of his feelings must have shown on his face. “Fine, fine, do me a favor?”

“Anything.”

“Go on a romantic date with Kid?” Ran pleads. 

That throws Shinichi for a loop. “Why?” 

“I trust your judgement and I think I want a thorough profile on the thief,” Ran explains. 

“Then I’ll go all out.”

“That’s all I ask.”

\-----

Kaito gets the text from Shinichi during class. It’s nothing unusual, a message asking about his availability. But when he gets a text back, he doesn’t get an itinerary, but a time and place, and also the type of clothes to wear. 

_ Dress semi-formal. Wear comfortable shoes, the ones you wear for heists would be appropriate.  _

Ooookay. 

Another message comes in while Kaito’s wondering how to reply. 

_ This one’s a romantic date so you know how to woo a person. Can’t rely on the gentleman thief persona all the time.  _

Oh, Kaito can woo women if he wants to. He just hasn’t wanted to since his thing with Shinichi has started. 

Then he realizes what the texts mean. 

Shinichi is taking him out on a romantic date…

..To show Kaito what Ran likes.

It’s not ideal, but Kaito will take it. In fact, he’ll turn this on its head and use this as a chance to see if Shinichi will look his way. 

Now he just needs to figure out what to wear. 

\-----

Kaito tries not to let his nervousness show as he checks his reflection in the mirror. He thought long and hard about his outfit and in the end he went as himself. No disguise, no makeup, just- Kaito. 

He’s a little early (a lot early), but he needs the time to calm himself (and not run away). 

However, his heart is beating fast when Shinichi arrives with a lovely blue bouquet. The focal point being the blue roses that Kaito likes to tote around as Kid and of course a medley of bluebells with small white flowers and greens as an accent. It reminds him of his Kaito Kid outfit. He almost feels guilty for accepting them (the bluebells, geez), but the flowers are so thoughtful that he’s more happy than conflicted. 

Shinichi even pins flowers to their outfits (the roses thankfully, not the bluebells) so that they’re matching. 

“So we’re matching on the outside even though we already have matching bluebells,” Shinichi says with a smile and a tap to his wrist. 

Kaito almost jolts. He’s almost forgotten what started this all. The soulmark used to be a source of comfort and a point to obsess over all that time ago. Before he had Shinichi’s attention, that is. Now it’s just a source of guilt. 

He tries to put it out of mind. (He has a lot of practice of putting guilt out of mind.) Without the mark, he would have never had this time with Shinichi in the first place. 

Instead he concentrates on the fact they’re wearing matching flowers, blue roses no less, Kid’s trademark. Shinichi is wearing one of his symbols. The thought makes Kaito’s stomach do a loop. It’s a good sign right? That doesn’t feel like a gesture amongst friends. Maybe this is Shinichi taking the ‘romantic date’ too far. 

(God, he’s going to enjoy this while he can.) 

This is one of their first ‘romantic’ dates where Kaito is dressed as himself. It’s not too different from their past dates truth be told (proving that Shinichi is just naturally romantic, it isn't just his imagination), but he still can’t believe it’s happening. 

Their initial walk is lovely. Lunch is great, at a place that Kaito enjoys immensely. They get dessert too. And during the whole time, Shinchi anticipates his every need like the detective he is. Kaito is enjoying all the attention. 

He thinks the day is winding down when Shinichi starts leading them somewhere Kaito can’t guess where. 

‘It’s a surprise’ the man says.

They end up at a theatre and Kaito knows exactly what they’re here for. 

“A magic show?” Then he notices the venue and realizes he knows who the show is for, “Sanada Kazumi’s show? Really?” 

Shinichi laughs. “You make that face, but I know that you like watching all types of magic shows.” 

That’s true, but Kaito also feels an odd rivalry against the other magicians that Shinichi has met in person. (Not that many can compare against him, especially not Sanada.) 

“I suppose I’ll always hold a grudge against those that impersonate me,” Kaito says with a sniff, trying to play it cool even though he’s being truthful. 

Shinichi laughs again. “Come on. I used a favor to get us inside.” 

Kaito playfully grumbles, but follows the man in. To his surprise though, there isn’t any show. In fact, the stage crew is still setting up. He looks over the proceedings with interest. 

“Kaito, I’d like to introduce you to the head engineer.” 

Oh, he recognizes the man. Kaito’s eyes are wide as he’s introduced to a living legend in the show industry. He’s sure that the man has even worked on some of dad's shows. But he thought the man retired, because he had worked on- 

The show that had killed Kuroba Toichi. 

(Well, the one that people thought killed Kuroba Toichi.) 

“It’s an honor,” Kaito manages to say. 

The man seems to recognize him, but luckily before the man can reveal Kaito’s identity to Shinichi, the detective is being pulled away by what looks like an acquaintance. 

Kaito stands awkwardly there. He’s not sure if he should introduce himself. 

The man clears their throat. 

“Do you remember me?” He asks. 

“Yes,” Kaito says with a nod. “The roller coaster set.”

The other man nods looking uncomfortable. 

“I’m just here because my- friend brought me here. I’m an aspiring magician,” Kaito blurts out. 

The man accepts the out for what is and nods again, pointing to the stage. “Then you’re in luck. I’ll show you the behind the scenes work of the show.”

Kaito nods and puts everything else out of mind. 

\-----

Kaito has fun. Backstage work for magic shows is something he’s learned before, but never really experienced. He’s had to build his own sets for heists, but he’s never done one from scratch before for a show he’s designed. It feels different. 

His former experience impresses the workers, when he guesses some of the magic Sanada must be prepping for from the set alone. 

They crawl around the whole area, until the magician arrives. 

Sanada even welcomes him as a ‘future magician’. (The man is underestimating him, clearly. Kaito has already had more successes as Kid than he can count, and one of Sanada's claims to fame was dressing up as him.) And he doesn’t even think twice about letting him stay for the show. 

During the show, the two of them are in the back, unobtrusively watching. They’re watching the show from the backstage where part of the crew is filming and controlling the set. (That’s a new addition to magic shows that Kaito has noticed: having screens magnify the show so people far away in the audience can still see the stage. Surprisingly though, it works similarly to how Kaito has to prepare for his heists.) Kaito carefully tracks each camera and how the magic appears form the different angles. 

“You do this all the time,” Shinchi quietly whispers to him during an interval. “I can see why you thought you wouldn't learn anything,” he adds.

Kaito flushes at the comment although he doesn’t disagree. “I’m glad to learn the traditional method, though.” 

By the end, Kaito’s mind is racing with ideas. He's never considered the type of magic he might do after he quits being Kid. This is a whole new avenue that he has to explore.

“Did you have fun?” 

Kaito jolts from his brainstorm and realizes the two of them are in a park, no longer at the show. The sky is dark. He’s been zoning out after the end of the show and through dinner. 

Shinichi is waiting for an answer. 

“I did have fun,” Kaito admits. The magic show at the end had been odd, a far cry from traditional romance, but it was the most fun he’s had in awhile. And the date was surprisingly easy. Once he got past how intense his romantic feelings were, everything felt good. Felt right. 

Still feels right. 

It’s a perfect date, one tailored for Kaito. 

Shinichi looks satisfied by Kaito’s answer, but Kaito isn’t satisfied and says, 

“Let me return the favor.”

\-----

Shinichi decides to delay his usual meet up with Ran until after his next ‘date’ with the thief. It’s just as well. Based on the natural progression of Ran’s requests, it seems likely that her next one would have been for Shinichi to be taken out on a ‘romantic date’ of Kid’s planning. 

It feels like the final piece to be filled before Ran changes her mind and decides to pursue her soulmark match. Shinichi knows that she hasn’t been having much luck with the others and he just wants her to be happy. The air of disappointment as she reports her love life can get heavy. Almost like she doesn’t want to disappoint Shinichi. Or worse, like Shinichi is disappointing her. 

(He asked, but she made sure to disabuse him of the notion that she’s disappointed in him.) 

He’s going to be happy for his friends if they get together. 

(There’s a small part of him that’s disappointed though. If his favorite people get together, he won’t be able to spend as much time with either of them.)

It’s a thought for later when he finally arrives at their meeting place for the ‘date’. Kid hasn’t arrived yet, but Shinichi isn’t too worried. The thief usually arrives later. (Shinichi has realized that the thief usually gets to places earlier, but scouts out the area first before revealing themself.) He patiently waits. 

“Guess who?”

Shinichi’s eyes are covered, but he knows who it is. It’s obvious who it is, although he’s surprised to recognize the voice as the one Kid’s been using with his modified Shinichi disguise. It’s the voice he now associates with ‘Kaito’. 

“The bane of my existence?” Shinichi asks aloud. 

“I’m sure you mean that in a romantic way,” Kaito says, pulling away their hands, but not without a poke to Shinichi’s cheeks. 

He turns to find the thief grinning at him and he can’t help but smile back. Kid is dressed as what Shinichi now thinks as ‘Kaito’ and- he’s wearing light gray slacks with a light blue shirt and a white blazer. He looks good, but- 

He’s dressed awfully like his Kid outfit. 

It’s easier to forget when he’s dressed like someone else, or when he’s in someone else's clothes, but this is Kaito Kid in front of him. Somehow the thought is- exciting. It reminds Shinichi of the atmosphere of a heist and his body reacts in turn, looking forward to their time together. Shinichi wonders if Kid chose that outfit on purpose. 

Kaito gives him a wink at his staring before starting a gesture with his hand. In a slow turn of his wrist, he produces a deep red rose. He clips it to Shinichi’s jacket, the red standing out against his black blazer jacket. 

With a snap of his fingers, Kid produces another rose (Shinichi knows this is just sleight of hand, but the thief really is a master at it) which he offers to the detective. Shinichi gamely takes the rose and clips it to Kid’s front. The red stands out against his white blazer. 

Now they’re matching. 

“Shall we?” Kid asks, with a smile and an offered arm. 

The Kid-isms amuses Shinichi. He’s charmed by the character, although he’s sure others would be charmed too by the gentleman thief. 

“We shall.” 

\-----

Their date is a show of how Kid can fit in all of his gentleman thief persona and then some. Kid somehow takes all of the good aspects (the polite charm, the gentle care) and makes it acceptable in a date setting. But they’re not too serious and they’re clearly not acting, because at times they’re also goofy and silly, in a playful sort of way. It’s very appealing and makes the thief very dateable. (Ran is very lucky.) 

Their meal and walk goes very well, until they get to the main event which is: 

“A private tour of a Holmes museum?” 

Kid winks at him. “It’s a private collection. Normally not open to the public, but I managed to get us in to take a look.”

They make their way in and Shinichi’s eyes widen with the displays in front of him. He spots a few first editions he’s never seen in person and some recreations that look spot on. He even spots some props from both old and recent shows. He gives himself a mental shake, he has to look at the big picture. 

“This isn’t a very romantic date,” Shinichi says, even though he can’t stop smiling at all the interesting things around him. 

Kaito gives him a knowing look. “Oh, I’m just showing you how accurate my data gathering is. If I can do this for you meitantei, I can do this for anyone.” 

The logic makes sense to a point, but Shinichi feels like Kid is hiding something from him. Maybe his date idea for Ran? 

Well, he’ll let it go this time. 

(His decision has nothing to do with wanting to look at the collection as soon as possible.)

They go one round, reading all the descriptions and simply taking in every exhibit. Kid is surprisingly quiet, reading alongside Shinichi. The thief doesn’t complain about the quietness or how long Shinichi is taking. When they do a second circuit, that’s when Kid talks, but meaningful comments, not idle chatter. There are questions about Shinichi’s own expertise, comments about the mysteries, and even his own opinion about the various showcased items. 

Shinichi is surprised at how thoughtful Kid is and enjoys the conversation. 

Maybe he shouldn’t be surprised that with their third circuit Kid starts up a conversation on how to steal the exhibits. Not just steal, but how to replace, duplicate, and how to convince the owner that their real item is fake. (That sounds like an unusual situation and rather unrealistic, but after Kid lays down his plan, Shinichi has to admit that most people would fall for it.)

The atmosphere of their outing changes to something a little more casual and little more playful. Something that Shincihi recognizes as their normal atmosphere. It’s fun and relaxing. 

When they finally separate, Shinichi realizes that the whole day has passed, yet he wouldn’t have minded spending more time with the thief.

\-----

The date goes spectacularly in Kaito’s opinion. 

He had been worried that things would go horribly wrong, but surprisingly everything was a dream. From their initial meet-up (he wondered if the outfit was too Kid, but Shinichi actually seemed to like it) to their date with the Sherlock collection. 

Kaito had planned things meticulously, like one of his heists, if not even more so. 

(He had even had to use some ‘magic’ to get access to the private collection. Kaito had carefully gotten the owner out of the way for the night, while he and Jii had opened up the exhibits. Then ‘Kaito’ had convinced the people that the two people coming in had permission to view the collection. It was easy.) 

There was that heart stopping moment when Shinichi had asked about the date itself and how it wasn’t suited towards Ran, but thankfully Kaito managed to muddle through that. He thought the detective had seen through him and realized that what Kaito wanted was a date with  _ him _ . 

But even after a babbled out answer, Shinichi  _ hadn’t _ realized. 

That was fine. 

It was fine, because Shinichi not realizing meant that they could continue their date in peace. 

God, did Kaito love seeing Shinichi happy. Especially when he was happy in Kaito’s direction. The man’s smile alone made the whole thing worth it. 

(Even if it did hurt that the date wasn’t real.)

  
  



	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: ~5.2k

“I found my soulmate.” 

Shinichi spills his iced coffee all over the table. Immediately Azusa-san comes over to help clean up. Shinichi apologizes for the mess, but all he can think about is that Ran is saying  _ she found her soulmate! _

“How do you know?” Shinichi asks her. “I haven’t even narrowed down the list.” 

“I just know,” Ran says, her gaze firm. 

Shinichi opens his mouth, not knowing what to say. 

“...And we might have gone on a date and kissed,” Ran admits a moment later, a pretty flush on her face. 

“Ran,” Shinichi says, aghast. Not at the kissing, but at the fact that he didn’t know. “You promised me that you were going to tell me about all of your dates.”

“I’m sorry,” she says, even though she doesn’t look too sorry. In fact, she looks incredibly happy. “It felt right though, being with them. I knew before our date was over that they were my soulmate.”

“So you’re sure?” Shinichi asks again, because although he doesn’t doubt that Ran is sure (she wouldn’t kiss someone if she wasn’t) but...

Her expression softens and Shinichi has very few doubts about her feelings. “I’m sure,” she says. 

He just has the one doubt: “What about Kaito Kid?” 

Ran’s face immediately changes to confusion. “What about Kid?” 

He clears his throat. “I mean, he’s one of the only candidates you haven’t dated, and I’ve been following them closely for you because I think they would be a good match for you. Kid is surprisingly kind, charming, romantic…” 

Shinichi trails off when he spots the ‘are-you-a-dumbass’ expression on Ran’s face. (He’s very familiar with the expression.) 

“I’m not the one dating Kid,” Ran says, dryly. 

“Why not? He’s perfect,” Shinichi immediately says. 

“Shinichi. I just said:  _ I’m  _ not the one dating Kid,” she repeats. 

...

When he finally gets it, he turns red. “Barou, that’s not- I was doing it for you-“ 

That’s definitely how it was at first. While Shinichi trusted Kaito Kid with his life, trusting Kid with Ran’s heart was a different matter. There was too much the thief was hiding for him to comfortably introduce them once he found out about the matching soulmarks. It was only logical that he test Kid’s compatibility with Ran before allowing them to meet in a more personal setting. 

That was how he learned more about the person behind the thief and Shinichi found that behind the grand persona was just a person. Kid was everything he expected, clever, witty, arrogant, and bratty. But Shinichi also found that the thief loved to make people smile and make people happy. Even if it was at his expense. 

He learned that Kid enjoyed sweets and classical music. That the thief enjoyed performances of all kinds. That the thief had a tendency to grin and make terrible jokes if it meant getting a reaction out of the person they were with. 

Even in their initial meetings, Shinichi always thought that Kid could have been a perfect match for Ran if the two of them had reached out to one another. 

It boggled his mind that the two of them didn’t want to try. 

Shinichi had brought it up all the time during his initial meet-ups with both Kid and Ran. 

But when he thinks about it now, Shinichi hadn’t thought about Ran at all in his most recent pretend-dates with Kid. On occasion he did, but in reality he had been enjoying himself so much that sometime he forgot-

Oh. 

“Oh no.” 

“Figured it out?” Ran sounds way too smug as she gives him a nudge under the table. 

“Yes, I’ve figured it out,” Shinichi says grudgingly. 

Thankfully, Ran takes pity on him and doesn’t tease him any further. Instead she extends her left hand across the table and Shinichi automatically reaches for it with his own. Her fingers brush gently across the back of his hand. The gesture is so tender and loving that Shinichi is overcome with emotion. 

Ran takes his hand in hers and squeezes. 

“Don’t worry, Shinichi. Even though we’ve both found someone to love, it doesn’t mean we still can’t be close,” Ran murmurs. 

Shincihi blinks rapidly, suddenly finding his vision blurring. That's been his wish since the beginning of this whole situation: that the two of them would still be close (love each other) even though Ran has a soulmark. Whether that be as lovers or friends. 

(God, he got so close to losing her as Conan. He wasn’t going to do anything to jeopardize their relationship after he came back as Shinichi.)

Well, they’re obviously not going to be lovers based on this new development, but at least they’re still close. 

Shinichi rubs his eyes, embarrassed at his outburst of emotion. (God, he cries way too easily after his time as Conan.) He tries to distract himself and looks towards their joined hands. 

Ran’s sleeve is pulled just low enough that her soulmark is now visible- along with the omamori and ribbon tied around her wrist. 

Shinichi looks up to see Ran blushing prettily. 

“My soulmate is Kazuha-chan,” Ran explains. 

“She wasn’t even on our list of candidates,” Shinichi can’t help but say. Then, “Her soulmark is on her neck, isn’t it.” 

Ran nods. “If she wears her hair up then it’s visible.” 

Then Shinichi eyes the familiar looking ribbon and the omamori. “Her picture is in there, isn’t it,” he says, bluntly. 

“ _ Shinichi _ ,” Ran hisses at him, finally pulling away. Her blush has turned a little more red in an angry way. “Stop trying to deduce things about our relationship.”

Shinichi put his hands up in surrender. “You guys are just moving so fast, I can’t help but analyze things.”

“Well, I’m happy with her,” Ran says. 

“Then, I’m happy for you,” Shinichi says in turn. And when the words fall out of his mouth, he finds it to be true. 

Ran seems to hear the honesty in his voice and asks him if he’d like to hear how things went down. Shinichi says he would love to hear what happened, and those words ring true as well. 

And as he’s listening, he thinks about how Kazuha is Ran’s soulmate. 

Shinichi turns the thought around in his head. He can see it. The two are close friends and understood each other like no other. They like spoiling and taking care of the other. And they think the other is smoking hot. 

(Suddenly some of their outings made a little more sense to him now. As Conan, he had been an audience to way too many of their shopping sessions. Their ‘girl talk’ had consisted of quite a few compliments towards each other.) 

But most importantly, Kazuha loves deeply and very steadily. 

If there is one person who would love Ran through thick and thin, it would be Kazuha. 

Mentally, Shinichi sighs of relief. All the other candidates- are fine, but not- great. Kazuha is an infinitely better choice than all of them. Except Kid. But for different reasons. 

God, does Shincihi have a chance with Kid?

Kid who’s charming, clever, intelligent, and- and- perfect for Shinichi?

Who wore the hair clip or leather bracelet that Shinichi bought for them for everyone of their planned dates. Who barely said no to any of Shinichi’s plans, no matter the time or day. Who smiled at him with every flower Shinichi handed over. 

Oh. 

Shinichi does have a chance with Kid. 

Now that he thinks about it, neither Ran nor Kid were interested in meeting the other. Perhaps Shinichi should have taken that as evidence that the two weren’t compatible. And now that Ran has someone, then Shinichi could pursue Kid honestly. Take him on a real date. 

As they talk, Shinichi silently plans…

\-----

Kaito isn’t sure he can take much more of this. 

Shinichi is being thoughtful, kind, funny, charming, but all without sacrificing anything that makes him- well, himself. Kaito doesn’t forget for a moment that this is the meitantei that he’s had battles with and fought next to. 

They’re on a date, of course they’re on a date, but somehow this date is different from all the rest. 

Maybe it’s because it’s after those extremely romantic dates and they’re trying to find their footing with each other. Maybe it’s because Kaito is failing at hiding his feelings anymore. Maybe it’s because for this whole date Shinichi hasn’t mentioned Ran  _ once _ . 

It makes Kaito forget that this date isn’t real. Shinichi doesn’t want to date him, Shinichi is checking to see that Kaito is good enough for his best friend. Every soft smile and gentle touch isn’t meant for him, but just a matter of Shinichi being his charming self. Shinichi isn’t treating Kaito specially. 

(Oh, but does Kaito wish it was real. This date especially is testing Kaito’s self-restraint. All he wants to do is throw himself at the man, consequences be damned.) 

It’s late. They spent the morning together walking, had a perfect lunch together, and went to a museum in the afternoon. They watched the sunset in the windows of the museum, the sunrays lighting up the displays in their warm colors. (It’s not their first sunset together, but the first one where Kaito gets to use the chance to watch Shinichi bathed in the sunset’s colors. He’s beautiful.) 

It’s the perfect end to a date. 

They’re walking out of the museum and it’s completely dark now. It’s no surprise to Kaito, who lingered in the museum so that he could spend as much time as possible with the detective. (He wonders if the detective allowed it because he, too, wanted to spend as much time as possible with Kaito.) 

Kaito quickly strikes the thought from his mind. No, it was more likely that the man didn’t think a date this late was odd. 

“Shall we get dinner?” 

“What?” Kaito doesn’t register the question at first, so lost in his thoughts. 

Shinichi gives him an amused look. “Dinner? I have a reservation nearby.” 

“I could eat,” Kaito says. 

Not like he’s going to turn down more time with the detective. Although he’s wondering how long this date will last. Not that he’s complaining, but any longer and he won’t be able to help himself. 

For now, Kaito follows Shinichi. They make small talk (well, more like they discuss all the security issues with the museum), but not for very long because apparently they’re in walking distance of.. the Haido City Hotel. 

Where they first met. 

“Bring back memories?” Shinichi asks. 

Seems like the detective remembers their first meeting too. 

Luckily, Kaito doesn’t have to answer (he would probably end up saying something stupidly romantic given the chance) and follows as the detective leads them through the hotel to a restaurant on the side of the building. The building does bring up memories. Fond ones and he wonders if it’s the same for Shinichi. 

They’re seated. The restaurant has low lighting and candles on the table. It’s mostly cozy alcoves and paper partitions, giving the illusion of privacy. 

The setting is.. Intimate. 

Kaito busies himself with the menu, even though he’s really looking at Shinichi across the table. The man looks normal, maybe a little nervous? He’s rubbing his chin consideringly like he does when he’s thinking deeply and Kaito doesn’t think it’s about what to order. Kaito is no detective, but even he can guess what could make a man nervous on a romantic dinner. 

He can’t help it. There’s a spark of hope that starts to build in his chest. Maybe, just maybe, this isn’t a fake date. 

The thought builds itself steadily throughout dinner when Kaito catches Shinichi looking at him and fiddling with his sleeves. The man has never been this nervous before. Awkward, yes, but not nervous. In fact, Kaito has only seen Shinichi waver when he’s faced with Ran. 

(That’s a good sign, right?)

By the end of the delicious meal, Kaito thinks he’s ready to confess. Maybe Shinichi will confess to him first, but maybe not. Maybe the man will lose his confidence by the end of the evening. If that happens, Kaito promises to himself that he’ll confess instead. It feels like a sure thing and he can’t imagine going on any more ‘fake’ dates like this when they could be going on real dates. 

The end of the date comes faster once Kaito has decided, especially after Shinichi has paid without his knowledge. Okay, as soon as they’re outside, Kaito will confess. 

But instead of heading towards the exit, Shinichi heads deeper into the hotel. Kaito follows him willingly, wondering where they’re going. They pause in a dark alcove and Kaito feels a thrill at the setting. The man always looks good no matter what, but Kaito always likes seeing the man in the dark. There’s something about having the detective to himself during the quiet time of the night that makes Kaito glad that he has most of his heists in the evening. 

Shinichi turns to him. “There’s one last thing I planned. That is, if you’re still up for it,” Shinichi says. Then his gaze skitters away and he lightly scratches his cheek. Kaito wonders if he’s imagining the light blush on the man’s face. 

It’s happening. 

Shinichi is going to confess. 

Kaito feels a wash of pleasure at what’s about to happen. God, yes. Kaito is ready. 

“Lead the way, meitantei,” Kaito says, a little bit of Kid peeking through. He can’t help it though. The adrenaline rush reminds him all too much of a heist with a beautiful treasure waiting at the end. 

With that mindset, Kaito confidently follows Shinichi to an elevator. Shinichi watches the numbers pass by, but Kaito only has eyes for the detective. He runs his eyes over the man’s face even though he’s already done it thousands of times before. Traces in his mind the shape of the man’s eyes, to their spectacular hue. Memorizes the shape of the man’s ears, the curve of his jaw, and the color of the man’s lips. He picks out the strands of Shinichi’s hair and how they fall. 

He makes sure to look at the slope of Shinichi’s neck, from the way the man’s skin stretches, to the bob of his Adam’s apple. 

Kaito even looks at the way the man’s shirt collar gets wrinkled. Since the addition of the voice-changing bowtie to his wardrobe, Shinichi has taken to wearing more collared shirts (which Kaito thinks look devastating on the man). This in turn has gotten Shinichi into the habit of opening unbuttoning his collar when his work is finished, showing off the pale expanse of his collarbone. 

Kaito doesn’t need to look, he has long since memorized the man’s looks (yes, even down to how his collar rumples), but he takes pleasure in looking anyways. It’s too soon to know for sure, but he feels like he doesn’t have to hide his longing gaze any more. 

(How long has Kaito hidden his feelings? Maybe longer than he thought from the way he has Shinichi memorized.) 

They ascend the building and come out onto a familiar looking rooftop. Kaito’s heart flutters. So Shinichi chose not only the exact building they met at, but the exact location too? 

Shinichi points to the side where a cooler, some cushions, and a few space-heaters are set-up. 

Kaito settles onto the ground, bundling up quickly (even though it looks like Shinichi wants to help, Kaito feels like his heart will burst if the man touches him). Shinichi pulls out a thermos and pours Kaito what looks like a mug of hot chocolate. There’s even a whip cream dispenser that Shinichi utilizes and Kaito has a gorgeous drink in front of him in seconds. 

He distracts himself with the drink (it’s the perfect temperature, rich and smooth, warming him from head to toe). 

It’s everything he’s ever wanted. 

Not the drink, no. This  _ thing  _ with Shinichi is all he’s ever wanted. 

He wants what his parents have. Wants what Ginzo-san and Aoko have. Wants what Shinichi and Ran have. Something special that’s just his (and Shinichi’s). Maybe it’s a little unkind to think about, but it feels like he hasn’t ever had that kind of level of care from someone that sees both Kaito and Kid. 

And now Kaito might get it. 

Kaito’s hand tightens around his mug. Poker face, he just needs to keep his poker face for a little bit longer. No need to get nervous. (He’s getting nervous.)

He looks out across the roof. The sight is lovely, all dark skies and gleaming lights from the building surrounding them. Kaito can even spot the museum in the distance. Good times. 

He can’t see it from this angle, but Kaito knows that just behind him is another building in perfect distance to fly from to reach the top of this hotel. He looks up and traces the original path down he took to meet the then-mysterious child that had figured out his heist notice. The moon had been big and bright that night, creating the perfect halo effect for an audience of one. 

Even then Kaito had realized there was something special about the person in front of him, didn’t he.

“You know I’m glad.” 

Kaito almost startles, he was so deep in his memories that he nearly forgot that the object of his affection is next to him. Kaito looks over to see Shinichi also staring out into the city and at the museum. “You’re glad?” Kaito echoes. 

“I’m glad you figured out that Conan was me. I have a lot of good memories as Conan, but I can barely share any of them, especially not with those close to me,” Shinichi continues quietly. “Not yet at least. So I’m glad when I can do things like reminisce with you about our first meeting on this rooftop.” 

Shinichi looks over to him and smiles. “Is it a fond memory for you too?”

Kaito starts nodding (that smile could ruin Kaito) and Shinichi looks happy with the answer. Then he thinks about it and finds that he really does have fond memories of their start that aren’t just colored by nostalgia and his affection for the man next to him. 

It was exciting having an opponent to match wits with that would allow his magic show to run its course (not like some other detectives). The trust they built during the heists was nothing to scoff at either. Some days being Kaito Kid could be a burden, but with Conan (and now Shinichi) being the phantom thief is fun.

The depth of his feelings scares him. Kaito has to change the subject. 

“How did you even get access to the rooftop tonight?” Kaito asks. 

Shinichi makes a face and coughs. “I might have.. leveraged my connections for this one.” 

“Oh, really?” 

“Yeah. It’s just- I wanted to end the night here. Somewhere special.” 

The man says the last part so quietly that Kaito almost doesn’t hear him. But Kaito did, so Kaito buries the lower half of his face in his blanket to hide his smile. 

When was the last time that someone has made such a gesture for Kaito? Too long (never in some cases). This is the first time that he’s been on the receiving side and it feels good. He recognizes what a big gesture it is for Shinichi to be using police or secret agent resources just for a nice night out. (He also gets a kick out the fact that those resources are being used on him, Kaito Kid. Kaito mentally snickers.) 

“Because you deserve something special, Kid.” 

Kaito looks up and sees Shinichi looking at him with a familiar expression. It’s simultaneously tender, but determined. Kaito puts his mug down. This is it. This is the moment Kaito has been expecting. This is what he’s been wanting and waiting for this whole time. And he does deserve this. Kaito deserves this. 

Right?

“What I’m trying to say is-”

“My soulmark is fake,” Kaito blurts out. 

Shinichi blinks at him. 

Oh god, he’s disappointed, Kaito can tell he is, but he can’t stop himself. He can’t take another Aoko. He needs to admit to his crimes before he ruins everything (more than he has already). He doesn’t deserve that tender/determined look from Shinichi, not if he’s not forgiven. 

“I haven’t been completely honest with you about my soulmark,” the words come out without his permission. “I’ve been thinking about what’s going to happen once we find Pandora and I decided that the worst case scenario isn’t if we don’t find it, but if we do find it and we separate afterwards. I don’t want you to leave my life. I wanted you to continue staying by my side.” 

Now that Kaito has started, he can’t stop the confession spilling from his lips. “So when I saw your soulmark, I wanted to tie myself to you.”

It sounds terrible now that he’s saying it aloud. God, this is Aoko all over again. 

“I couldn’t help but- steal a part of you for myself,” Kaito admits. 

Because isn't that what he did?

His relationship with Shinichi is good, but Kaito had thought his relationship with Aoko had been good enough that when he told her about Kaito Kid that they would still stay as friends (and maybe become more). 

He had been wrong. 

He dashed Aoko’s idea of who he was and destroyed a good portion of their relationship with that confession. 

Shinichi may know more about him, but Kaito knows that he doesn’t really allow anyone too close. Not close enough to see who he really is. (Selfish, stubborn, willing to do anything for his cause.) 

Kaito needs to explain this, but before he can, Shinichi gives him a searching look. 

“That’s what I’ve been trying to say,” Shinichi says. 

Kaito’s heart stops. 

Shinichi is quick to add, “What I meant is, I want you by my side too.” 

Oh. Now that Kaito looks properly, there isn’t even a hint of disgust or anger on the man’s face. 

“I tried to stop myself from enjoying your company because I thought you were Ran’s,” Shinichi continues. “But once I knew it wasn’t a possibility, I.. kept the pretense from before so that I could spend more time with you. So that I could ask you out today while you were ignorant of my knowledge.”

Shinichi gives a rueful shake of his head, as if  _ Shinichi’s _ the one that did something wrong. 

Kaito frowns. “You’re not getting it, meitantei. I’m telling you that I lied to you.” Kaito holds out his left wrist. “This is a tattoo.”

Shinichi grabs his wrist before he can react. Kaito jerks back instinctively, but the detective doesn’t let go. Kaito could slip away or force the other man to let go, but.. he doesn’t want to. Maybe it’s a little pathetic of him, but’s really enjoying the feel of the other man’s hand gently grasping his own. 

(Kaito has memorized Shinichi by sight, but not by touch, so when the opportunity presents himself he likes to soak in the feel of the detective’s skin against his own.)

“The soulmark’s fine, Kid. We’re now two of a dozen people that share similar soulmarks. It’s not an issue.”

Ah, right. That made sense. No wonder Shinichi doesn’t care about that transgression if they share the mark with so many others. (That many? He knows about Suzuki and Shinichi, but a dozen? He guesses it’s a good thing, because Shinichi isn’t mad at him, but Kaito also feels jealousy bubble up at the thought. He doesn’t like the thought of sharing Shinichi.) 

Kaito gives himself a mental shake. Maybe the soulmark isn’t the issue, but there are tons of other things that make it impossible to date Kaito, he knows this, he’s been told these things before. 

“Doesn’t it disturb you that I’m a thief?” Kaito demands. 

“You were forced into being a thief by circumstances that the Crows created and you’ve continued being a thief for good reasons. I understand,” Shinichi says and there’s a glint in his eye that Kaito doesn’t like. It’s the expression the man often has when he’s solving a particularly tricky case. But there’s no evidence here that points towards Kaito’s innocence. No, the detective will just have to accept that Kaito is a criminal. 

“I miss important events and special occasions all the time because of my heists.”

“I’ll be doing the same with my cases.”

“There’s a lot of dirty work that goes into my heists. Don’t you hate it when I dress like someone you know? I do that all the time!”

“I do the same dirty work for my cases, you know. Doing something that doesn’t hurt anyone for the sake of protecting people is admirable.”

On and on, Kaito lists reasons after reason, but Shinichi tears them all down. 

And, he doesn’t let go. 

“You don’t even know what I look like!” Kaito yells out, frustrated by the stubborn, stubborn man in front of him. 

“Of.. course I do?” For the first time during the conversation, Shinichi’s expression changes to confusion. “Isn’t this what you look like?”

“What.” Kaito’s mind blanks out. 

Shinichi gives him the ‘are you kidding me’ look that he’s often seen on Conan’s face before. “One, you use this face a lot in your Kid heists. Two, I already know that you have a face similar to mine, enough that you don’t need a mask to masquerade as Kudo Shinichi. And three, when you’re dressed like you are now.. You’re more likely to perform magic which means this is most likely your most comfortable form. It only made sense that this is your true self.” 

Oh. 

But that meant…

“So you knew that this was me?” Kaito’s mind goes back to all their dates where he dressed as himself. When did Shincihi know? 

Then he remembers the text that Shincihi had sent him for this date, the one that had suggested a dress code and had… “That's why you wanted me to dress this way for this date?” Kaito asks. 

“Yes, of course.” 

The words are a gut-punch and Kaito starts to panic at the thought of actually being  _ seen _ . This is the first time it’s happened. He’s not ready for this. He thought he was ready, but he’s not. 

“Do you need more time?”

Time? What Kaito needs is his hang glider so he can get out of this conversation. 

His wrist is gently tugged and the action grounds Kaito even though his heart is beating wildly and the sound is filling his ears. He manages to concentrate so he’s no longer looking for exit points, but looking straight into Shinichi’s eyes. He’s close, oh so close. Close enough that Kaito can lose himself in the man’s eyes. 

“If you need more time, I can give it to you,” Shinichi says, slowly. Kaito eyes dart down and he focuses on the way Shinichi’s lips form the syllables and starts to think about how soft they look-

“Hey, look at me.”

Kaito’s eyes snap back up. 

Shinichi meets his gaze, but this time Kaito spots the small flush on his cheeks and the slight smirk on his lips. “I’m a detective,” Shinichi starts, “And if there’s one thing that I know I can do as a detective is with enough time and evidence I’ll be able to show you this one truth: that I, Kudo Shinichi, care for you and want you by my side.”

And then, if those words aren’t enough to make Kaito’s heart burst, Shinichi smiles brilliantly at him and says:

“Go out with me.”

It’s not a request. Oh, that was not a request, nor was it a half-hearted question, but a statement filled with desire. There was a depth of emotion in that statement that Kaito hadn’t been prepared for, but it did its job. Kaito can feel his walls crumbling, his poker face failing him, and his heart about to spill out of his mouth. How was he supposed to reply to that?

Before Kaito can sputter something out, Shinichi says it again, “Please, go out with me.” 

The tone, the soft emotion in the man’s voice- Kaito’s going to be dreaming about this for years to come because Shinichi’s practically begging and Kaito wants this  _ so badly _ . 

“Yes,” Kaito says and once the words are out he can’t take them back because when he’s presented with everything he’s ever wanted of course he’s going to take it. “Yes, I’ll go out with you.” 

Shinichi flushes deeper and he smiles very prettily which makes Kaito’s heart stutter. 

“I- I’m glad, Kid. Thank you,” Shinichi says. 

“It’s Kuroba Kaito,” Kaito manages to squeak. 

That startles a surprised laugh out of the man. “Really?” He asks. 

Kaito nods. 

Shinichi’s eyes soften. “Thank you, Kaito.” 

Then Shinichi is leaning in close and, oh god, is he going to be kissed right now? 

But Shinichi’s head dips low and he pulls Kaito’s hand forward. Is he kissing his..? He shouldn’t be flustered by this- he practically invented the move- but there’s something about Shinichi’s touch together with those blue eyes staring at him that makes Kaito fluster. 

But Shinichi doesn’t kiss the back of his hand. He starts with Kaito’s fingers. Kaito jumps at the touch as Shinichi lays a gentle kiss on each one. It feels terribly intimate. Kaito’s fingers are his life line when it comes to doing magic and to have Shinichi give so much attention to them makes him squirm. 

But tend to his hands is exactly what Shinichi does as he continues to lay soft kisses on his nails and then his knuckles. His lips are so soft, so different than anything he’s felt before. Kaito could get addicted to this. 

Oh god, if they made this a regular thing than Kaito is definitely going to associate his hands with Shinichi’s kissing and- it’s going to drive Kaito  _ absolutely _ crazy because he’s going to think about it when he’s performing a magic trick- and then he’ll associate  _ magic _ with  _ Shinichi _ -

Does this man know what he’s doing to Kaito?!?

(A soft glance and a hint of smirk confirms that yes, this is all part of Shinichi’s dastardly plan to make Kaito explode from the affection.) 

When Shinichi brushes his lips against his knuckles, Kaito thinks it’s the final one. It feels final, the way Shinichi’s lips linger over his skin, his eyes flicking up to meet Kaito’s own, boring into Kaito’s soul. It’s definitely nothing like the polite air kisses that Kid gives out. Shinichi then moves forward and Kaito thinks he’s about to be kissed (finally), but then the man’s head dips again. 

The man stares straight into his eyes as he gently brushes his lips against the fake soulmark. 

Kaito turns red. 

Shinichi smirks and says, “I look forward to thoroughly proving my case to you, Kaito.” 

What a cheeky detective. 

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Over time, Shinichi manages to get through Kaito’s walls. 

Even though Kaito hadn’t wanted to be treated like a case, he can’t deny the results. 

Through hard work (and many dates), Shinichi manages to convince Kaito that his words are real:

_ You deserve to be protected.  _

_ You’re doing so many good things.  _

_ You don’t have to shoulder the burden alone.  _

_ I love you.  _

And in turn, Kaito does the same:

_ You deserve to be happy.  _

_ You’re not responsible for other people’s choices.  _

_ You can have a partner by your side.  _

_ I love you.  _

It starts with a flower and ends with love blooming between them. 

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Note: 
> 
> This fic was a doozy. I wrote it so quickly! Absolutely adored the art for it and adored writing it. I adore soulmate fics, even though technically this wasn't one lol. Did that surprise anyone?
> 
> [Here's a link to the art!!!](https://nightfoliage.tumblr.com/post/625566727994032128/im-so-glad-we-got-to-work-together-honesty-im)


End file.
